


little lion man

by doughnutwhore



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, kara as a mom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:42:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 31,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22798021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doughnutwhore/pseuds/doughnutwhore
Summary: "you're Lena Luthor. you're my ma's crush."alternatively: in which Kara's son leads her to Lena
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 788
Kudos: 3120





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i just wanted to write a kid fic
> 
> *work of fanfiction. no copyright infringement intended

Lena smiles to herself as she watches the batch of students walk through the halls of her building, filling the halls with whispered ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as one of her employees usher them around.

Field trips are not uncommon to the CEO and L-Corp has hosted a lot of them over the years. Those previous tours, however, consisted of highschoolers and college students, so unlike the one that they are hosting now. Still, Lena is more than happy to organize such an event if it means shaping the minds of the younger generation, even if they’re only six or seven years old. 

She watches as they are led to an auditorium, waiting a few minutes before she follows them. Eve is already inside, supervising the other employees as the group of children begin playing with the assortment of robots and interactive games that Lena’s team has prepared for them. 

A rush of joy fills Lena’s heart as she witnesses the children’s excitement, their bright eyes wide and filled with enthusiasm as they play with the little machines. It’s a wonderful sight. One that reminds Lena of how enjoyable her job can be -or at least some aspect of it. 

She’s nearing the end of the hall when she notices him, a little boy with a mass of wavy blonde hair and glasses that look too big for his tiny face. He’s the only one in front of the screen, a massive interactive star map, one that he doesn’t seem to have trouble navigating, and Lena notices him mumbling to himself. 

Cautiously, Lena takes a step towards the little boy, catching a few of the words that come out of his mouth. 

“Pegasus. Andromeda. Cass… Cash…”

“Cassiopeia,” Lena offers. 

The boy turns around to look at her and Lena suddenly drowns in the most beautiful blue eyes. Whoever’s child this is must have really good genes, Lena thinks to herself. She’s never seen a more angelic face. 

“Cassiopeia. Thank you Miss,” the boy says shyly. 

“You’re welcome.” Lena takes a tentative step towards him. Slowly, she bends her knees to stoop down to his level. “You really know your constellations. I’m very impressed.”

At this, the boys cheeks turn a shade of pink. “Thank you. My mom taught me.”

“Well your mom is a great teacher.”

The boy smiles at her, a smile so big and bright that Lena finds herself mirroring. 

It’s not a secret that Lena can be a bit wary around small children, if only because she doesn’t know how to handle them, doesn’t know how to properly communicate with them. This boy is different though, and Lena finds herself completely enamored with him. 

“My name is Leon,” the boy suddenly says as he extends his little arm. Lena immediately takes it and is mildly surprised to find his grip slightly strong for his age. 

“I’m Lena Luthor.”

He gasps. “You’re _Lena Luthor._ ”

“Yup, that’s me,” she says with a smile that she hopes is welcoming enough. 

“You’re my ma’s crush,” he blurts out. He must have realized what he’s said a few seconds later because he ends up covering his mouth with both of his hands. “Oh no! That was a secret.”

Lena chuckles. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

Leon can be a handful, Kara knows that. He’s her son after all. He gets into trouble sometimes especially when he’s not careful, but he’s a good kid. That doesn’t mean that Kara doesn’t superspeed to the L-Corp building the moment that she puts the phone down.

“He doesn’t want to leave,” his teacher had said over the phone. “Would it be alright if you came to fetch him?”

“Of course. I’m terribly sorry for his behavior. I’ll come right away.”

Kara is in front of the L-Corp building within a matter of minutes, Leon’s teacher waiting for her by the entrance so that she can be let in. 

“Miss Danvers,” the woman sighs relieved when she passes through security. “I apologize for needing to call you off work.”

“It’s fine. In fact I should be the one apologizing for my son. I’m so sorry he’s giving you a hard time. Where is he, by the way?”

The teacher grimaces. “Well, uh, he… He’s upstairs with Miss Luthor.”

That throws Kara in for a loop. “What?”

“He looked like he was going to throw a tantrum so Miss Luthor offered to take him upstairs to her office to placate him. A teacher’s assistant is there with them now.”

Kara doesn’t think that she’s walked as fast as humanly acceptable as she does now. 

Leon doesn’t usually go anywhere with strangers, let alone talk to them. Kara has taught him never to, in fear of exposing his developing powers and in turn exposing her identity as well, which is why hearing that he willingly went along with a woman he doesn’t know comes as a surprise to her. And while Lena Luthor seems like a trustworthy person, Kara still can’t be too confident when it comes to her son and their safety. 

She reaches the right floor within minutes and is quick to exit the elevators and introduce herself to the secretary behind the desk. Once she confirms that she’s Leon’s mother, the secretary leads her through a large set of doors that lead her to an even larger office.

“Momma!” Comes a delighted squeal from behind the stark white desk. Kara instantly drops down to her knees to welcome the rushing boy into her arms. 

“Oh my darling, you gave me quite the scare. I thought something bad had happened when your teacher called.”

“No momma. Nothing bad happened. I just wanted to stay for a while,” he says. 

Kara pulls back from him a little to stare at his face, his cerulean eyes matching her own. “I’m guessing that you had an awesome time?”

He beams. “The awesomest! And I made a friend.”

At the mention of his friend, Kara looks behind him. She’s met with the image of Lena Luthor walking towards them, a small and friendly smile on her face. 

Kara lets Leon go, holds his little hand in hers instead as she stands up. 

“Momma, this is Lena Luthor. Miss Luthor, this is my momma,” Leon introduces when the two women finally stand face to face. He cups his free hand around his mouth and whispers loudly, “She’s your crush.”

Both women hear it. In fact, everyone in the room hears it as Leon’s idea of a whisper is actually a hushed kind of shout. That makes Kara’s face turn red. Behind her, she hears Leon’s teacher chuckle.

“Hi,” she squeaks. It makes the woman in front of her grin. 

“Hello. I’m Lena Luthor,” she says, extending her hand. 

Kara takes it, her heart spiking up at the warmth of Lena’s skin and missing it instantly when they pull back. “Kara Danvers.”

“You have a very bright son.”

“Thank you. I hope he wasn’t too troublesome.”

Lena looks down at Leon, “Not at all. I had fun talking to him.” 

“I had fun too Miss Luthor!” Leon chimes in before looking back up at his mother and tugging slightly. “Can we hang out with her again?”

“Darling, Miss Luthor is a very busy woman.”

Apparently, that isn’t what Leon wants to hear and he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. He tugs at his mother again, instantly widening his eyes dramatically and pouting. It’s a look that he knows his mother won’t be able to resist. 

“Leon,” Kara tries, but then Leon is turning to Lena, jutting out his lower lip and making it quiver. Kara sees the exact moment that it takes effect.

“I, um, well, I’m sure that I can work something out,” Lena offers. 

That seems to be good enough for the boy. 

“Thank you, Miss Luthor. I’ll see you soon,” Leon says, letting go of his mother’s hand and engulfing Lena’s legs in a brief hug. The act makes Lena stiffen, not used to being shown physical attention, especially not by a child. 

With a final wave of his little hand, Leon skips towards his teacher and walks out of the office with Eve and the teacher’s assistant, leaving Kara and Lena alone. 

Lena watches as Leon and his teachers leave her office before looking back at the blonde in front of her. 

She was right. Leon’s mom has really good genes. She’s nothing if not _gorgeous_ , Lena thinks, and the fact that she knows that this woman has a crush on her is such a compliment. 

The woman is tall and athletic, has a kind face, and eyes so blue that put all of the oceans to shame. They’re as big and bright as her son’s, hidden behind thick rimmed glasses that only make her look more attractive. 

Lena chances a glance at the other woman’s left hand and feels her heart skip a beat. No ring.

“I’m sorry. You seemed uncomfortable when he hugged your legs. I’m trying to teach him not to be too touchy around new people,” Kara says when the office doors finally close. It brings Lena out of her reverie. 

“No, no. It’s alright. He just startled me is all,” she responds. 

It’s true. She had been so deprived of affection that the little act had managed to surprise her. It wasn’t unwanted though, Lena thinks. In fact, it was the most welcomed hug that a child could give her. 

Leon is a smart kid, one who is imaginative and creative and effervescent, and Lena thoroughly enjoyed her time with him. She says so as she walks Kara out of the office. 

“Well, I’m just glad that he didn’t break anything,” Kara chuckles nervously.

“He was very well-behaved.”

“Good to know.”

They’re by the door now and Kara is looking at Lena so openly that it makes a shiver run down her spine. Her eyes are more beautiful up close. 

Lena clears her throat. “I suppose I should give you my number. I did promise Leon that I would find time for him again.”

Kara smiles at the offer. “That’s not really necessary. You’re a very busy woman. I’m sure that Leon would understand if you can’t find the time.”

“No, no. I want to. I don’t want to let him down,” Lena says, and she means it. She’s not going to be the kind of adult that doesn’t follow through with her promises even if those promises were only made to a child. She knows what it’s like to have someone turn on their word, and she doesn’t want Leon to experience that. 

Lena opens the door and ushers Kara towards Eve’s table. She asks her assistant for a calling card and hands it to Kara. 

“Here. Just tell Eve who you are and she’ll patch you through.”

“Wow, thank you, Miss Luthor. That’s very kind of you.”

There’s a tentative smile on her face, one that is mirrored by the woman in front of her. “Please. Call me Lena.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the reception to this fic has been beyond incredible guys. thank you so much to everyone who read the first chapter, commented, kudos-ed, etc. you guys motivated me to write a few more. now i'm not sure how long this'll be but i'm in love with leon so i might just finish the whole thing
> 
> also, let me just say that the timeline for this fic might be messy so just bear with me please. oh, and lex isn't evil and the rest of the luthor family isn't anti-alien (just to make the story less complicated)

Kara tightens her grip on Leon’s hand as the little boy once again tries to scurry away from her. There’s a bounce to his every step, and anyone with a pair of eyes can see that he’s practically vibrating with excitement. 

It’s not his first trip to the museum but he still has the eagerness of an enthusiastic newcomer. It brings a warmth to Kara’s heart seeing him this excitable, this happy, and she promises every star in the sky that she’ll try and always make him feel like it. 

He gasps as he tugs at his mother, his eyes blowing wide as they approach a hologram of a triceratops. He’s seen it before, but Kara knows that there are a few modifications on the tech since she last brought him. She’d written an article about it the previous week. It’s why she brought him again to visit. 

Skipping towards the different holograms, Leon begins spouting different facts and information about his favorite dinosaurs. Kara listens to everything that he says, heart swelling with pride at just how brilliant her son is. 

They’re nearing the end of the exhibit when Leon tugs at her a little too forcefully. Kara is about to ask him what’s wrong when his little arm shoots up to point at a familiar lady talking animatedly to a man that Kara recognizes is the museum’s director. 

“Look momma, it’s Miss Luthor.”

And oh, Kara does look. It’s the second time that she’s seen her up close but it’s the first that Kara actually takes her time. 

Lena is tall and lean with long pale legs and a smile that Kara is sure she doesn’t offer to many people. She’s read a lot of tabloids, heard gossips from her co-workers that Lena Luthor is cold and quite haughty, but looking at her now Kara thinks that they’re all wrong. She looks genuine, happy even, to be talking to the museum’s director. No, the tabloids have painted her all wrong. Kara is certain, even though she’s only met the woman once before. She hasn’t thanked her son for that yet.

She doesn’t know how long she had been staring until Leon tugs at her again and asks, “Momma can we go say hi?”

There’s a hopeful look in his eyes that Kara can’t say no to. Although she herself isn’t opposed to seeing the other woman again. She is her crush after all, as Leon had already helpfully pointed out. 

“Alright, darling. Let’s wait until she’s finished talking to that man and then we can go say hi.”

Leon bolts the moment that the museum director leaves Lena’s side. He doesn’t go on full superspeed though, which at least eases Kara’s worries. 

Kara watches as Leon half tackles the other woman’s legs. Lena immediately brightens, her smile growing wider at the sight of the little boy. It might just be because Kara has a crush on Lena, but seeing her with her son makes her heart stumble on itself. 

Leon has always been friendly, shy at first and wary of strangers as Kara had taught him to be, but friendly all the same. He’s always had the sunniest personality, something that he takes from her of course. But it’s different somehow with Lena. He seems taken with her in a way that he doesn’t seem to be with other people. He just...lights up. 

“Oof.” Lena stumbles back a bit as something hits her legs. She snaps her head down, smiles instantly when she sees a pair of blue eyes looking up at her. “Leon.”

“Hi Miss Luthor,” and then he pulls back with a frown, “I’m sorry I hugged your legs again. I was just excited to see you. Momma says I have to be more...” He scrunches his nose, as if trying to find the right word. “Conscious? Of someone’s space.”

The little apology makes Lena’s chest tighten, remembering how she flinched when Leon did the same thing the last time that she saw him. She lowers herself to his level.

“Your momma is right, and it’s very good that you remember what she taught you. But it’s alright. You’re welcome to hug my legs whenever you see me. Just be a bit more gentle next time.”

The smile that Leon sends her way makes her mirror it, because honestly it’s the sunniest and most contagious smile that Lena’s ever seen. 

“Hi,” comes a voice from a little ways behind Leon. Lena’s eyes immediately zero in on a pair of cream flat shoes, up to long legs, a yellow sun dress, strong broad shoulders, up and up baby blue eyes hidden behind thick glasses. 

She’s being offered a sunny smile again, but this time it takes her breath away. Kara Danvers is _beautiful._

She stands up from her position, offers Kara a small smile that she hopes conveys that she’s happy to see her again. “Hi, Miss Danvers.”

“If you want me to call you Lena…”

“Kara it is,” she chuckles. “Enjoying the museum’s modifications?”

“We sure are. I suppose I should thank you. You’re the brilliant mind behind all of this, after all.”

Lena preens a little under the attention. She’s used to having her accomplishments acknowledged, and the projectors in the museum are honestly smaller compared to her other projects, but Kara’s praise makes its way to Lena’s heart anyway. 

“It wasn’t a big deal, and it’s for the city. For the people to have a more interactive experience here,” Lena looks down at Leon, “For the kids.”

“You’re his new hero you know,” Kara says, lowering her voice like it’s a secret. The statement makes Lena’s heart soar. She’s never been anyone’s hero before. “He couldn’t stop talking about how cool you were after your first meeting.”

Lena laughs at that, because surely no child thinks that she’s cool. 

“I mean it,” Leon pipes in, looking at her with wide blue eyes. “You’re really awesome Miss Luthor. You’re so smart.”

That basically melts her heart, because Leon is looking at her with such sincere devotion, such appreciation that Lena thinks she might tear up right then and there. Her accomplishments have been recognized before, but this one from this little boy is the one to mean the world to her. “Thank you, Leon. That means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” and then “Would you like to walk with us?”

That startles Lena from her daze. She immediately looks up at the other woman. 

“Are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt your day.”

“You won’t be. We’d love for you to tag along. If you’re not busy that is,” Kara says, and Lena recognizes the same genuineness in those eyes. 

She nods her head, swallows the lump in her throat because Leon and Kara are beginning to feel dangerous to be around. 

After a quick but serious reminder that they’re in a public place and that they’re with a new friend, Kara lets Leon walk a few steps ahead of them to look at the other displays on the museum. They’re in the renaissance exhibit now, statues of knights in full armor and cases of swords and other battle equipment surrounding them. 

Kara has her eyes locked on her son’s, but she can feel the heat of Lena’s presence beside her. It makes her blush a little. She clears her throat.

“Thank you for tagging along. And for answering Leon’s questions. He can be excitable sometimes.”

Lena looks at her. “That’s alright. It’s refreshing, to be honest. Not many people are that excited to talk to me.”

“Why is that? You’re pretty fun to be around,” Kara says, hoping that her blush isn’t growing.

“Well I’m not exactly the friendly type. I’m known to be quite cold,” Lena replies and Kara can see the hint of sadness behind a carefully constructed mask. 

“You don’t seem so cold to us. I can publish that if you want, just to let the people of National City know.” It makes Lena smile a little, and oh what Kara would give to keep that smile. “Seriously though. I don’t think you’re who the tabloids say you are. Or maybe you can be but only when you need to be. You can’t be all that bad if you’re spending time welcoming kids into your building for a field trip or helping out the museum to make other people’s experience more enjoyable.”

Lena’s smile widens and Kara can’t help but smile back because she put it there. “Thank you, Kara.”

“Just telling the truth.”

Kara likes seeing this side of Lena, finds herself wishing she sees more of it often. 

She’s had a crush on the woman for over a year now, ever since news came out that Lex ran off with his secretary. Lena had stepped in to save L-Corp and their family name, and she’s made their company flourish even more. It’s astounding. To see someone so young take the reins of something that big. A whole company. 

But seeing her in this light, knowing that Lena isn’t what the gossip columnists paint her out to be, knowing that she’s passionate about what she does because she wants to _help,_ it makes Kara’s admiration grow exponentially. 

Lena not only has beauty and brains. She also has heart. And Rao that just does things to Kara. 

“I’ve read some of your articles too you know,” Lena quietly mentions. “You’re really talented.”

Now it’s Kara’s turn to preen. 

“Thank you.”

They continue walking side by side, talking about each other’s jobs, or at least what they can share about it. It’s when they’re nearing the art gallery that Leon walks back to both women, claiming that he’s tired and needs to eat. 

Kara thinks of inviting Lena out with them only to decide not to when Lena says that she has to go too. 

“Thank you for hanging out with us Miss Luthor,” Leon says beaming up at her.

Kara watches as Lena bends down and smiles at the boy. “You can call me Lena.”

“Can we see you again Lena?” 

Kara holds her breath when Lena’s eyes find hers. There’s a questioning look in her eyes, like she’s asking for permission. It does something to Kara’s heart. She nods.

That makes Lena grin. “Of course.” She straightens herself and then looks to Kara. “You know you can use the card that I gave you the last time. You can call me instead if I can’t step out of the office.”

Kara visibly blushes, starts fiddling with the glasses on the bridge of her nose. “We, um, we didn’t want to disturb you.”

“Momma says that we might catch you at a bad time,” Leon adds, looking serious. 

Lena smiles at him, gives him her attention again when she says, “Well why don’t I give you a time and you can call me on Friday?” 

The expression on Leon’s face instantly turns hopeful, and Kara can’t help the way that her heart races because Lena Luthor, a powerful and busy CEO, is making time for her son. “Really?”

“Yes. I imagine it would be a refreshing break from all the work that I would have to do, and I would love to hear from you.” Lena says, and then her eyes flit up to the woman behind Leon as if she’s finding herself unable to look away. Their eyes lock and Kara’s breath catches in her throat because Lena knows that she has a crush on her, right? “Say four in the afternoon?”

Leon frantically nods his head. He looks up at his mother for confirmation. Kara nods her head as well, speechless as she continues staring at Lena’s eyes, memorizing how one of them is greener than the other. 

It’s when Lena ducks her head shyly that Kara’s voice comes back to her. She flushes. “Yes, right, Friday. We’ll call you then.”

Lena flashes her a dimpled smile. “I’ll be waiting.”


	3. Chapter 3

Lena stares at the document in her hand, tries again to read the sentences on the third paragraph. It works for the first few lines, but then she reaches that one phrase, the one that has the word ‘blue’ in it and she’s suddenly distracted again, starts thinking of other things that are blue like the ocean and the sky and two pairs of beautiful blue eyes. 

She can’t help it. Kara Danvers crosses her mind more times than she would like to admit. 

In her defense, Kara really is _breathtaking_ , and Leon is the most adorable boy she’s ever laid eyes on. They’re a striking pair, mother and son, both otherworldly angels that Lena’s mind always seems to drift to. 

She sighs. She’s obviously not going to get any work done with her line of thinking. Putting down the document, Lena decides to relax and stare at her telephone.

It’s almost four in the afternoon that Friday, and Lena won’t admit it but she’s been waiting the entire week for Kara and Leon to call her. 

It’s silly, Lena thinks, that she’s so excited for something this small, but Lena can’t help it. Kara is kind and generous with her smiles and Leon is bright and brilliant and they don’t make Lena feel like how she feels like on most days. Alone. 

When Lena is with them, she doesn’t feel out of place. For some reason, she feels like she belongs. Like she’s welcomed. Wanted even. 

She thinks that it’s because Kara is the only person she’s come across that talks to her without a hidden agenda, or without wanting anything in exchange. Kara is a reporter, for Christ’s sake, but not once had she asked about the company or about her latest projects. At least not in the way that Lena would feel like she’s snooping. Kara asks because she wants to get to know her, and it’s new and so refreshing for Lena because she’s never had that before. And Leon, oh god that boy. He’s smart and wonderful and so _so_ friendly. And he thinks that she’s cool, for some reason, but it melts her heart and it makes her want to hold him even though she’d normally stay five feet away from children. 

She doesn’t know what’s happening because she’s only met the pair twice, but she feels so at ease with them, so light, that when her telephone rings she picks it up almost immediately and almost sounds breathless with excitement. 

“Hello?”

“Hi, Lena. It’s Kara.” Lena feels her heartbeat quicken. 

“Hi, Kara. I was waiting for your call. How are you? How is Leon?”

A chuckle. “We’re both doing well. Leon, unfortunately, is asleep. He’s going to be angry that I didn’t wake him up but a growing boy needs his nap time.”

“Of course. I understand completely.”

“Thank you,” Kara says and Lena hears the genuineness from the other end of the line. That’s another thing that Lena likes about the woman. “How about you? How are you?”

“Oh you know. The usual. Fending off board members and scheduling meetings.”

“Saving the world one project at a time?”

“Something like that,” Lena laughs and it’s as genuine as the other woman’s. She blushes when she thinks that only Kara can make her laugh like that. Unbidden. 

“You should do that more often,” Kara mumbles, thinking that Lena wouldn’t hear her. But she does. 

“What?” and Kara is in trouble now because she can’t lie to the woman. She steels herself, closes her eyes because she can’t believe that she’s going to say it. 

“Laugh. It sounds nice.”

The other woman chuckles and if Kara isn’t Supergirl she wouldn’t hear the way that Lena’s heart is beating frantically over the phone. 

“Um, thank you,” Lena shyly responds. “I don’t really laugh as often as I want to. Not much to laugh about.”

“Not even the balding men in your board members’ meeting?”

That cracks Lena up again, and Kara has to bite her lower lip to stop herself from swooning because _Rao_ , Lena’s laugh is magical. 

She feels like a teenager again, talking to her crush on the telephone, hoping that no one is listening in on them. It makes her giddy. Lena makes her giddy. 

“Thank you, Kara.”

“For what?”

“I’ve been having a terrible week. Well, not so terrible, but stressful all the same, so thank you for making me laugh.”

“Glad to be of service,” she says. A beat of silence and then, “Hey. I’m not disturbing you or anything right? I know that you wanted to talk to Leon, but I thought it would be rude if I didn’t call just because he’s asleep. If you’re doing anything I can hang up-,”

“No, no,” Lena quickly interrupts. “I’m not doing anything right now. I’m...actually thinking of heading out for dinner. Would you, would you and Leon maybe want to join me?”

Kara’s brain short circuits because Lena Luthor, her _crush_ Lena Luthor, didn’t just invite her and her son out for dinner, right? 

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to check if I heard you right. Did you say dinner?” Kara asks because she has to be sure that this isn’t just a dream and that she’s going to wake up any second now. 

She hears a small chuckle at the other end of the line and then, “Yes, Kara. Dinner. If that’s alright.”

“Yes. Yes, that’s more than alright. Leon would love that,” she says, biting back saying that she would love that too. “Especially since he’s the one that you’re supposed to be talking to right now, but you got me instead.”

“That’s alright. I like talking to you,” comes Lena’s response, and Kara just about chokes on her own spit. 

Leon wakes up a quarter before six, giving both him and Kara enough time to prepare for their impromptu dinner with Lena. 

He’s still groggy when he wakes up, but his eyes widen when he looks up at the clock and sees that the small hand has already passed by the little number four.

“Momma why didn’t you wake me up?” he groans. “I was supposed to call Lena.”

“I called her for you, darling. I told her that you were asleep.”

“But momma, I was supposed to call her,” he whines.

“I know that little one, but like I said you were asleep, and we both know that you need to sleep to grow up big and strong like me and your Uncle Clark.”

The pout on his lips instantly vanishes at the statement. Still, he deigns to ask his mother, “Can we call Lena again now that I’m awake?”

Kara smiles softly at him, wonders what had happened during his field trip that has him so taken with Lena. She doesn’t have to think too hard though because it’s already obvious that Lena is a wonderful woman. Hell, she has a crush on her. 

She ruffles his hair as she bends down to carry him towards their bedroom. “No need, little one. We’re going out with her for dinner.”

“Really?” He gasps, his eyes widening with delight. 

“Yes, really.”

“Then we have to get ready.” Leon wriggles free from his mother and tries to superspeed around their apartment, his excitement adorably palpable. 

“Slow down, Yon-El,” Kara gently says, stopping Leon from his tracks. That always gets him to calm down, the Kryptonian name that only Kara calls him. 

“Sorry yeyu,” he mumbles, the foreign word automatically stumbling out of his mouth and Kara beams because he says it so well. “I’m just really excited. I really like her.”

That makes Kara sigh, a soft smile painting her lips. “I really like her too.”

Leon giggles. “I know. She’s your crush, remember?”

“She is.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i looked up kal-el on the internet and it said something about being similar to the hebrew words meaning voice of god so i thought i'd use another hebrew name for leon's kryptonian one. i settled with "yon" because it sounds like leon. also because it means dove and doves can be taken as a symbol of hope which is what kara's all about


	4. Chapter 4

Lena is already seated by the windows when Kara and Leon arrive at the restaurant. It’s a small and new place, one that Kara hasn’t been to. She’s grateful that it isn’t the crowded type or the kind that’s too fancy that would make her and Leon seem out of place. She smiles to herself. Lena seems to have thought a great deal about dinner. And then she promptly shakes the thought away because Lena might simply be trying to be friendly.

Kara catches Lena’s eye from the table and gives her a little wave. Leon waves at her too, although his is much wider and more enthusiastic. 

Kara grins as he watches their interaction. The way that Lena brightens at the sight of Leon, matches his wave with an eager one of her own. She’s so good with him despite her only meeting them a couple of times. It makes Kara’s breath hitch.

“Hello you two,” Lena greets when Kara and Leon reach her. 

“Hi Lena,” Leon cheerfully says, still waving his tiny hand. “Thank you for inviting us.”

“Of course. I missed your call today so I thought that we could have dinner instead.”

A small pout. “Yeah, Momma didn’t wake me up when she called you, but that’s okay. Maybe she wanted to talk to you by herself because you’re her crush. Right, Momma?” He says, turning to his mother for confirmation -his mother who can only gape at him in response, stammering as she tries to form coherent sentences because _wow._ Trust her son to always embarrass her in front of Lena, right? 

“Um, well, th-that’s not what happened,” Kara stutters. “You were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.”

“If you say so,” Leon snickers, ever the helpful boy. He pulls one chair and settles himself on it, waits for his mother to do the same. 

Kara, though, is still trying to gather her bearings. “No, honestly. That’s not what happened.” But Lena’s already giggling in front of her, dimples flashing on the sides of her cheeks that Kara can’t help but laugh as well. It’s awkward and she’s thoroughly mortified but the smile on Lena’s face is enough to make her feel better about it. 

Once she takes her own seat a waiter arrives to give them their menu. Kara orders for herself and for Leon, Lena for her own, and then the waiter is ambling away and back to the kitchen. 

Leon takes it upon himself to talk to Lena about his day, regaling her stories about his class and his friends. Lena listens with rapt attention, her eyes sparkling with adoration and never once leaving Leon’s face. 

Kara, on the other hand, is content with watching them, listening to them, memorizing the way that Lena’s eyes shimmer whenever Leon says something amusing. She’s _stunning_ , so much so that Kara finds herself staring at the other woman their entire conversation. 

Lena must have noticed because her eyes suddenly flicker towards Kara, blush dusting her cheeks when she catches the other woman’s eyes focused on her. 

Kara immediately ducks her head, fiddles with her glasses like she didn’t just get caught. When she looks up, Lena is still looking at her. Sparkling eyes and a smirk in place. She raises a challenging brow as if daring Kara to continue looking at her and oh dear, Kara’s mouth instantly goes dry because is this real life? 

Taking a deep breath, Kara decides to take the bait. She rests her palm on her chin, her elbow on the table as she continues staring at Lena. She watches as Lena’s smirk grows, as if she’s pleased that Kara has taken the challenge. 

Lena alternates between looking at Kara and Leon then, just to let the little boy know that he’s still being listened to despite also sharing the attention with his mother. She makes a point of nodding every now and then, asking something from the boy or clarifying what he had just said. And then her eyes drift back to Kara, green eyes shining at blue ones. 

Lena chuckles as she watches Leon eat. For a boy so small he definitely has a massive appetite. 

“Slow down, love,” Kara teasingly chides beside him, causing him to smile sheepishly at both adults.

“Sorry,” he mumbles through a mouthful, only to resume eating like it’s nobody’s business. 

Lena takes that opportunity to speak to the woman in front of her. “You’ve been quiet.”

Kara shyly smiles, “I was content with watching the both of you talk. And well, I was sort of rendered into speechlessness by someone’s green eyes.”

That makes Lena blush, her earlier bravado faltering at the other woman’s words. She doesn’t know if Kara has caught on yet but she deliberately invited her and her son out to dinner. 

She knows that she’s only been with them a couple of times but the genuine happiness that she feels whenever she’s in their presence was enough of a reason to invite them out. That and the fact that yes, maybe there’s a growing attraction between her and Kara. And maybe it’s becoming quite obvious that Lena knows there’s no point in denying it. Not when she feels her heart stutter whenever Kara looks at her, whenever those blue eyes find their way to her own. Blue eyes quietly staring at her right now, looking at her with such intent. Such curiosity. Like Kara is asking for her permission to peel her walls back and get to know her. Let her in. 

“You looked at me first.” Lena can’t help the way that her voice sounds a little too breathless.

“Well if you like talking to me then I like looking at you.” And oh, there’s that attraction again. That spark of energy crackling to life around them. 

“I like looking at you too Lena,” Leon pipes in, suddenly joining their conversation. “You’re very pretty. Isn’t she pretty, Momma?”

Kara’s gaze is intense. “She is.”

“Your Momma is pretty too,” Lena says and Leon nods his head in agreement.

“You’re both very pretty. You should look pretty together,” he throws in casually and Lena grins at how Kara almost chokes on her glass of water. 

They continue their conversation to lighter topics after that. Talk about what Kara is currently working on and how much she despises her boss. She shares about her tenure under Cat as her assistant, shares how much she’s learned from her mentor and how sometimes she wishes that she was setting Cat’s appointments instead of getting yelled at by her new supervisor. 

Still, Lena sees how much Kara loves her job. It makes her heart flutter even more the way that Kara talks about wanting to help people, about how much she loves journalism because she despises dishonesty. Things that Lena finds herself relating to. 

The more that Kara tells her about herself, the more that Lena is drawn in. Kara is _amazing._ A single mother raising a wonderful child all the while successfully navigating her career. Lena is thoroughly impressed.

Inevitably the conversation flows to Leon’s father and Lena notices Kara flinching when the topic is broached.

“You don’t have to answer it if you’re not comfortable. I’m sorry I even brought it up,” Lena says.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Kara reassures, waving her hand in a vague gesture. “He’s just not in the picture anymore. We broke up even before Leon was born.”

“Oh… So the two of you weren’t married?”

“No. He was a boyfriend. Not a very good one but I know that he tries to be a good dad.”

Lena nods her head, digesting the information. “Does he visit the two of you often?”

“Not anymore. He’s been gone for a year. Um, traveling.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, it’s just me and the little guy,” Kara says, turning to Leon to ruffle his hair.

“And auntie Alex and James and Winn and Grandpa and Grandma!” Leon adds through a mouthful of dessert, making both women chuckle. 

Lena watches as Kara gazes lovingly at her son. The way that she pushes back curls from his forehead with such adoration. It’s a beautiful sight. One that makes her heart flutter and her stomach spin because really, Kara Danvers is such an impressive woman. And Lena finds herself liking her more and more. 

“Thank you again,” Kara says when they’ve finished dinner and are walking out of the restaurant. “For letting us call you and for dinner. And well, just generally being great around Leon.”

“He makes it easy,” Lena replies, eyes drifting down to Kara’s side to look at the boy before looking to the side of the street to where a black car is waiting for her. 

“Would you like a lift home?” Lena offers when she turns back to Kara.

“No, thank you. I think we’d rather walk. Leon likes looking at the night lights, don’t you buddy?”

“Yeah!” Comes the excited response.

“Then… Can I walk with you?” 

That makes Kara’s brow furrow in confusion. Why would Lena want to walk them home when she has a perfectly good and expensive looking car waiting for her? 

Lena must have seen the questioning look on Kara’s face because she smiles, a soft and shy little thing before clearing her throat and sheepishly confessing, “Would it be okay if I said that I don’t want the night to end yet?” 

It’s a whisper, gentle and seeking permission and it’s the most vulnerable Kara has seen her yet. Like she’s scared of being shot down and _oh_ , Kara thinks that she might pass out. Or float. Or melt into a puddle because honestly she’s never felt like this before. Not even with Leon’s father. 

“More than okay,” Kara whispers back. “But what about your car?”

“I’ll tell him that I’m walking with you, and then I’ll call him when we’re outside your building so he can drive me home.”

“You know if you wanted to ask me where we lived you could have just asked,” Kara teases, cheekier than she’s been all night. She watches as Lena blushes furiously. 

“T-that’s not- I didn’t. Wait... Are you teasing me?”

“Yes.”

The little smack on the arm that she gets is incentive enough. The contact happens fast but Kara’s arm burns right where Lena’s hand had connected. 

Giggling, Kara watches as Lena walks to the car, waits for her to talk to her driver while she tells Leon about their plan. 

“Hey, love. Lena wants to walk us home. Is that alright?”

“Yeah!”

“Good,” she says, kissing the top of his head. Lena is walking back towards them, a bounce in her step and a grin on her face. And Kara thinks that this is one of the most memorable nights of her life. “Ready?”

“Yes,” Lena says, the three of them falling into step as they make their way towards Kara’s apartment. She settles herself beside Leon so that the boy is between them and Kara watches with pure fondness when Leon’s free hand takes Lena’s.

“Is this okay?” She asks when she takes the little hand in hers. They’re starting to walk now. Two women and a little boy. Kara knows what they must look like and god, something twists deep within her chest. It’s too early for this kind of thinking, Kara tells herself but she can’t help it. Not when Lena fits them like a puzzle. 

“More than okay,” Kara says for the second time that night, finding herself still meaning the words so very much.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, thank you to everyone who's read, commented, kudos-ed, etc. you guys are the best!

Lena is alone in her apartment that Saturday, the day after she had dinner with Kara and Leon. 

There’s still a spring in her step from the night before. Still silly and happy when she thinks of how Kara had looked at her, like the simple crush that she has for Lena could maybe turn into something more. 

Lena smiles to herself. She’s never felt this way before. Like her chest might burst. And it wasn’t even a real date. God.

She’s pouring her second cup of coffee when her phone chimes from atop the marble counter. The smile on her face stretches when she sees who the message is from. She’d given her private number to Kara last night. 

“Just in case Leon wants to call me outside of work,” she remembers herself sheepishly explaining. _Useless lesbian,_ she chastises herself, using a child as an excuse as if it isn’t Kara that she wants to hear from. 

Hearing from Leon would be nice, of course. The boy had wormed his way into Lena’s heart from the moment that they met after all. He is brilliant and kind and sunny in all of the ways that light Lena up. But hearing from Kara? Now that would be something else entirely. That would be the sun powering her and getting her through the day. As cheesy as that might sound. Lena can’t even bring herself to cringe because _god_ it’s true. One smile from Kara Danvers feels like the coffee that she needs in the morning. 

‘Good morning’ the simple message reads. A sun emoticon sits beside the words. That and a smiley face. 

‘Good morning. Had a good sleep?’ Lena types back. 

Her phone chimes again after a minute. It’s a photo this time of Leon wearing a dinosaur pajama set, his glasses askewed on his face and a massive bowl of cereal in front of him. She chuckles at the picture, heart warming at how adorable the little boy is. 

The caption reads, ‘He says good morning too. And yes, our sleep was pretty nice. Must be because it’s a Saturday.’

‘Do you have any plans?’ 

Lena knows that it’s too soon. She saw them both last night but Lena can’t help herself. Finds herself wanting to stay as close as possible. 

‘Leon wants to go play in the park. We’ll go after lunch. He has a doctor’s appointment in the morning.’

She’s about to type out a response when her phone chimes again, indicating a follow-up message.

‘Would you like to come with us?’

And then another… A photo of Leon donning his best pout, the caption below it reads ‘please’ and Lena finds herself smiling like an idiot, her stomach flipping and her head a little floaty. 

That settles it then, Lena thinks. She finishes her cup of coffee and leaves the empty mug on the sink. Taking her documents from the kitchen table, Lena returns them to her desk in her home office before firing back a quick ‘I would love to’. 

Another smile escapes her lips as she looks at Leon’s picture again.

It’s the first time in months that she’s not working on a Saturday.

Kara grins as she shows Leon Lena’s most recent reply. 

“She said that she would love to,” she tells him, watches as his smile grows into a full-on beam. 

“Yay!” 

“You’re really happy that she’s coming along, aren’t you?” Kara asks as she puts her phone down and takes the now empty bowl of cereal from the breakfast nook. She sets it on the sink along with the other dirty dishes.

“I am,” he nods enthusiastically. “Are you happy too, Momma?”

“Yes. She’s my crush, remember?”

The little giggle from Leon makes Kara blush. She shouldn’t really be reminding him of that, especially since he’d already told on her twice. Or was it thrice? Kara can’t even remember how many times her son had unintentionally embarrassed her in front of Lena. 

“I think she has a crush on you too, Momma.”

That stops Kara from what she is doing. Sudsy hands hover in the air as she turns off the faucet. “Why do you think that?”

“Because she has the same happy face when we’re together,” he answers matter-of-factly and Kara shouldn’t really be listening to her barely six year old son. Shouldn’t be taking his words into consideration. Shouldn’t be trying to tell herself that he might have seen things that she didn’t but god. 

Leon is observant and perceptive and honest and Kara can’t resist imagining. Fantasizing.

“Well I hope that you’re right,” Kara finds herself mumbling, “Because I really like her.”

Once they’ve finished cleaning up and getting ready, Kara takes them to the DEO. She misses being able to just fly in. It’s less of a hassle than having to commute but Leon’s safety is more important than anything and Kara can’t risk being seen as Supergirl with a child in tow. So she takes the necessary precautions, rides the tinted black van waiting for them down her building. A van that isn’t supposed to be picking up or dropping anyone off but Leon is everyone’s favorite at the headquarters, so a little misuse of government issued vehicles can be slipped under the rug from time to time. 

This has been their life since Leon was born. Taking days in a month to visit the DEO to make sure that Leon is healthy by both Kryptonian and human standards. They call it their doctor’s appointment because it seems like that anyway. Leon is, thankfully, very intelligent, and knows what and when things are supposed to be kept a secret. 

The boy immediately bounds down the halls when he reaches the base, instantly finding J’onn and having him carry him in his arms. 

“Good morning khehthgr,” Leon says. The word is the closest Kryptonian equivalent for grandfather, a fact that warms both Kara and J’onn’s hearts. She never taught him to call the older man that, but that was exactly what he did when he finally learned the word. Immediately associating ‘grandfather’ with J’onn. 

“Good morning to you too. Are you ready for your doctor?”

That makes Leon giggle. “Yeah!”

The excitement in his voice doubles when he sees his auntie Alex coming into view. She’s already wearing her lab coat, the Danvers family name stitched onto the white material’s left breast pocket side.

“Aunt Alex!” He squeals. J’onn immediately transfers him into Alex’s waiting arms. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too little lion! You haven’t been visiting me often. What have you been up to, huh?”

“Momma and I went out on dates with her crush!”

That, of course, earns Kara a pointed glance. She grins sheepishly at her sister, following them towards the med bay where the necessary machines are already put in place. 

He chats with his aunt during the entire process, of course, because talking about Lena Luthor isn’t something that he finds necessary to be kept a secret. That or because he really enjoys embarrassing his mother. 

It’s when the check-up is finished and Leon is left to a side to play with some toys that Alex pulls Kara for a private conversation. There’s a concerned look on her face, one that Kara understands stems from Alex’s protectiveness towards her and Leon. 

“You’re dating Lena Luthor?” Is what she says first.

“No, no. We’re not dating. But I really like her, Alex.” It’s the first time that Kara has voiced it out loud to someone other than herself and _god_ it makes her feel terrified. 

At this, Alex hesitates. “I’m happy for you sis. I am. I just… I worry.”

“I know,” and Kara truly does. She knows the implications that dating would entail. Knows how important it is that the person she finds is someone that she can truly trust, especially if things become more serious in the long run. “I’m taking things slow. And I’m being careful.”

“I know. I don’t doubt you, and I know that you would move heaven and earth to make sure that Leon is safe.”

“You know I would.”

Alex releases a long sigh then, seemingly letting go of her trepidation as well. She smiles at her sister. Soft and sincere. “I’m happy for you Kara. I’m happy that you’re putting yourself out there again. You deserve it after everything.”

“Thanks Alex.”

“And Leon seems to really like her.”

Kara looks at her son, still enjoying the mini dinosaur figurines that he is currently playing with. “Yeah, he does. He led me to her, he told you that.”

“He did. He also mentioned that the two of you are meeting Lena again after lunch,” Alex says, a hint of teasing coating her tone.

“We are.”

“Okay. Just… be careful, okay? Oh, and here,” Alex says as she hands Kara a simple red anklet. “Winn and I have been going over it for a few months now. I know that Leon’s powers have been slow to develop but it’s always better to be sure. The anklet transmits a form of energy similar to that of a red sun. It won’t completely dampen his powers, but it’ll be enough for him to wear in school or when you’re both going out. For precaution.”

The act makes Kara pull her sister in for a hug. Alex has always been there for her. From when they were younger to when she came out to when she got pregnant. And now she’s here for Leon too. 

“I love you,” Kara whispers and she desperately means it. “I don’t know how I could handle any of this without you.”

“I love you too, Kara.”

Their hug lasts longer than a minute, only broken when Leon notices them and demands to be included. 

Lena isn’t sure if what she’s wearing is casual enough for a day at the park. She’s wearing a pair of dark jeans and a light blue blouse, the color slowly becoming her new favorite. It’s the most comfortable ensemble in her cabinet, one of the things that she can’t wear to work. Slipping on a pair of sneakers, Lena realizes that this is the most comfortable she’ll ever be outside of her home. She’s been living in National City for a year now but not once has she gone out in any attire like this. Always dressed fully armored in her slacks or pencil skirts and killer heels. That brings a smile to her face. The fact that she can be this at ease and laid back with Kara. 

She’s in the elevator on her way down to the private parking lot when her phone chimes from her bag. It’s a text from Kara telling her that they’re on their way to the park. 

She fires off a quick response as she steps out of the lift, heading towards the sleek black Porsche Cayenne parked in the corner along with her other cars.

On any day Lena would prefer to take her Aston Martin or McLaren out but with a child, Lena opts for the more family friendly one. 

Sliding into the posh leather seat, Lena fires up the engine and begins her exit from the covered space and out onto the highway. It doesn’t take long for her to speed through the main streets, arriving sooner than she expected at the address of the park that Kara had sent her. 

She sees the duo immediately, hears Leon’s happy screams as Kara pushes him on the swing. It’s a sight for sore eyes. Leon clutching at the metal handles of the swing as he yells excitedly. Kara behind him, pushing him with evident joy. It makes her heart twist. Pulls the corners of her lips to a smile that meets her eyes. 

This is what Saturdays should be like, Lena thinks. Spending time with the people that make you happy. 

“Lena!” She hears the little boy shout her name when she’s walking towards them. “Lena look! I’m flying!”

“You are!” 

The smile on his face is wide. Face-splitting. And _god,_ he looks so happy. The kind of happy that’s contagious, slowly creeping up at Lena and making her heart bloom with warmth. And when Lena looks at the blonde woman behind him with the same eye-crinkling smile, Lena just about melts. She looks like a goddamn angel in this light. All golden and effervescent and astonishing. 

“Momma look, Lena is staring at you,” Leon giggles as the swing comes to a slow stop. That brings Lena out of her daze, her cheeks dusting pink from embarrassment. She doesn’t look away though, because Kara is sporting the same reddish tint on her cheeks. And oh god they’re looking at each other. Smiling shyly like a couple of teenagers. 

“You look really beautiful,” Kara says. “I’ve never seen you in jeans before.”

Lena chuckles. “Well you’ve only seen me thrice in person.”

“But she likes looking at your pictures in the magazines!” Leon chimes in, unaware of the rippling attraction between the two women and happily including himself in the conversation. “Also on the lappytop. Momma likes using hard words to talk about you. Like dazzling.”

“Alright. That’s enough,” Kara quickly interrupts, her face the color of a tomato now and Lena can’t help but laugh.

“Is that right?” 

Kara sheepishly grins at her. “Maybe.”

“Well I think that you’re pretty dazzling yourself,” is what Lena says, emboldened by what Leon had shared. 

“Thank you.”

It’s soft and breathless and for the first time since meeting the blonde, Lena wants to kiss her. Right there in the park, surrounded by the other children running around and the parents looking after them. And god it’s so different from anything she’s ever felt before. So unromantic -because who would want to have their first kiss in a park full of screaming children? But Kara is looking at her like _that_ , and Kara thinks that she’s dazzling. 

“Momma, come on I want to go on the slide now,” Leon says, making Kara look away from her and towards him instead and Lena learns how to breathe again. 

“I’m coming, darling,” Kara responds before turning back to Lena, sparkling eyes and blinding smile in place. She offers her hand. “Let’s go?”

“Let’s.” 

And then she’s taking the other woman’s hand, smooth and soft and warm in her own, and _fuck_ Lena is so screwed now. Because she’s looking at Kara’s hand in hers and finding herself not wanting to let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm also writing another supercorp au - a highschool themed fic if you guys wanna check that out as well it's right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22919167/chapters/54783736)


	6. Chapter 6

It’s been a week but Kara can still vividly remember how it feels to have Lena’s hand in hers. The warmth of her touch, the softness of her palm. The way that her heart had raced inside of her chest like she’d just ran a marathon. _Rao,_ even the simple memory still sends a shiver down her spine. It was that _exhilarating_ , and not just because she’s admired Lena even before they met, but because of how that admiration had rapidly grown over the four times that they’d seen each other. 

Four times, god, Kara thinks. How can someone have that much effect on her when she’d only seen them a total of four times? Maybe it’s because Lena is easy to talk to. Or because she’s fun to be around. Maybe it’s because she’s passionate and completely spectacular at what she does. Or maybe it’s because Lena lets her see a softer side of her that Kara knows many people aren’t privy to. 

Kara thinks about it for a while because she knows that she isn’t the type to like anyone this much this fast. Not the type to still feel the lingering heat on a hand that she used to hold someone else’s a week ago. She thinks about it for a moment and then her eyes drift down to the mass of wavy blonde hair on the floor. The little boy playing with his dinosaur figures and making adorable roaring sounds. 

Her heart swells at the realization.

Of course Kara doesn’t have anyone to compare how Leon is with Lena. Not with the way that she feels about the other woman. She’s never even thought of the notion of going on a date since she had him. No, it’s only ever been Leon and Kara. She doesn’t need anyone else in their little bubble. Doesn’t want anyone trying to get in. So maybe that’s exactly why Kara can’t stop thinking about Lena, can’t help the way that she feels so much inexplicable fondness for her already. Because Lena didn’t even try to get in. She didn’t even attempt to enter their little unit. She just...fit like an extra puzzle piece. Like the letter ‘s’ that you can add on a word in a scrabble game.

And the thing is, Kara didn’t even find Lena. No. It was Leon who introduced them to one another. Leon who had already formed a bond with Lena over the course of his little field trip. It was this little boy who opened up to her first. And Leon doesn’t even do that to just anyone. Not any person outside of their mismatched family. Sure he’s friendly and talkative and excitable. But not to the point of wanting to spend more time with them, asking them if he could see them again or talk to them over the phone. No. He really isn’t like that with anyone else. He’s not even like that with his own father. 

“Earth to Kara.” Alex snaps a finger in front of her sister, effectively bringing her out of her reverie. “Wow. Where did you go?”

The blush that colors her cheeks is answer enough for her older sister.

“I see,” Alex teases. 

They’d talked about Lena after their day at the park. Alex had visited her in her apartment and had her regale the story in her perspective. Her sister had listened to her with rapt attention, eyes rolling whenever Kara mentioned the dorky things that she said or the giddy way that she shared how Lena was with Leon. In the end, Alex had smiled at her and once again told her how happy she was for her. That along with another reminder to be careful. But other than that Alex seemed to be genuine about her happiness for Kara. 

It’s the same sincere smile that Kara is seeing now under that hint of teasing. 

“Still thinking about a certain CEO?”

“Yes,” she replies a little dreamily. “I just can’t stop thinking about her, Alex.”

“Well then why don’t you ask her out on a proper date?”

Kara stiffens. “A d-date?”

“Yeah, Kara. A date. Just the two of you.”

Kara looks down at her son. “But-,”

“He’ll be fine,” Alex instantly interrupts and Kara instantly understands what her sister is offering her. “Now, go, call her, ask her out.”

A pout. “What if she says no?”

“Do you really think that?” 

And then Kara is taken back to the museum. To the restaurant. To the park. To soft smiles and happy faces and challenging looks and _would it be okay if I said that I don’t want the night to end yet?_ To holding hands and not wanting to let go and Lena fitting them like a puzzle piece. 

Kara smiles, this time more radiant. This time more confident. 

“I think she’ll say yes.”

Thursday afternoons are usually less busy. Usually.

Lena feels the onset of a migraine as she stacks the documents that she had just finished reading. There are more papers scattered on top of her desk, papers that she needs to go over now if she wants to come home without leaving a mountainous pile in her wake. 

The digital clock on the corner wall reads 5:17 PM. Lena looks to the mess of files on the pristine white table. She groans. There is absolutely no way that she’s going to finish everything today. Not with this and the unread messages on her email that she still has to go through. 

Surrendering to the fact that she’s most likely going to stay until midnight, Lena stands up from her chair and walks towards her bar tray. She’s going to need a drink for this. 

It’s when she’s coming back around her desk that her cell phone starts ringing. Her heart stops when she looks at the name on the screen. A wide smile splitting her lips.

She hasn’t seen Kara after their trip to the park. Not that they both didn’t want to set something up. Lena had a company to run and Kara had her articles to finish. They both had a busy week, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t text each other. Oh they did, even sent each other pictures of themselves or of Leon or of food. Okay. So technically it was just Kara who sent the pictures. But it was always Lena who called first. Lena who set aside some of her work to hear Kara’s voice and ask her and Leon how their day had been. It’s been a whole week of that and Lena wouldn’t admit it to anyone else but it’s become the highlight of her each and every day. 

With a thudding heart and a blush on her cheeks, Lena answers the call and puts the phone up to her ear. 

“Hi.”

“Hello you,” Kara greets and Lena hates that she can hear Kara’s smile from the other end. It makes her giddy and so _so_ weak. 

“Um, are you still in the office?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Oh, um, I just wanted to make sure that I’m not disturbing you or anything? Am I? Disturbing you, I mean?”

Lena looks at the steady pile of papers on her desk. “No. Not at all. I’m really happy that you’re calling, actually.”

“Oh,” Kara says and Lena just knows that there’s a blush on the other woman’s cheeks right now. “Well… I’m really glad that I’m calling you too. I, uh, have something to ask you actually.”

“Oh?

“Yeah. I-I was actually going to come to you? Because I wanted to do this right. Well, right as in the proper way? Um, not really proper but the old-fashioned way? Just because I think you’d appreciate it more but then I wasn’t sure if you were busy and I-,”

“Kara,” Lena chuckles, completely endeared by the blonde’s rambling, “Breathe.” 

“R-right. Sorry.” 

“It’s fine. So, what did you want to ask?”

Kara clears her throat, breathes a little too raggedly, and Lena can tell that something’s wrong. Kara sounds nervous. Sounds almost like she’s waiting for the courage to come so she can just blurt out what she wants to say next. But that isn’t what happens. When Kara speaks again it’s to a tone that’s firm and certain. The palpable anxiety is still there but she sounds completely sure of herself. Hopeful, even. “I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me? Um, just the two of us?”

Oh. _Oh._ So that’s what she wanted to ask. 

Lena’s brain short-circuits, leaves her opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish out of water. Just the two of them? “Like a date?”

There’s a shaky breath on the other end of the line. Firm but still shaky all the same. “Y-yeah. A date.”

Everything else fades into the background. The papers on her desk. The work that she still has to do. All of the emails that she has to check. Nothing remains but the sound of Kara’s breath on the phone, waiting for her to say something. 

Kara Danvers just asked me out on a date _,_ she tells herself, feeling her heart whoop inside of her chest. It feels a lot like it's dancing the macarena or something. God. She can’t even think. But then again there really isn’t anything to think about, is there? 

It’s a question with a yes or no answer. No. Actually. It’s a question with only one answer, because Lena’s sure as hell that she isn’t going to say ‘no’. Why would she? No one’s ever made her feel like this before. So wanted and welcomed and free. 

“Yes.”

“Huh?” Kara asks like she didn’t quite hear what Lena had just said. That or Kara can’t believe that Lena’s saying yes. 

“Yes, Kara. I would love to go on a date with you,” Lena says, biting her lower lip and keeping her voice steady if only to stop her heart from bursting out of her chest. 

The best part about the entire phone call is hearing Kara yelling out “yes” and “Alex, Leon, she said yes” because she thought that she’d ended the call. 

_Kara Danvers just asked me out on a date._

_And I said yes._

“Alex, Leon, she said yes!” Kara shouts when she puts her phone down. She’s bouncing around the living room like a child, pulling Leon up to happily bounce along with her.

“Who said yes Momma?”

“Lena did,” Kara answers as she scoops him up, puts a big wet kiss on his cheek. The little boy laughs.

“But what was your question?”

At this, Alex takes him from his mother’s arms, answers him conspiratorially like it’s a big secret. “She asked her out on a date.” 

“A date? What’s that?”

“It’s when two people who like each other go out and do something fun.”

“Oh! I wanna go on a date too!” The little boy perks up, causing both women to chuckle. 

“You can go on dates when you’re thirty,” is what Kara says. 

“But that’s too far away.”

Alex laughs. “Because you’re still a baby. Dates are for people who want to have girlfriends.”

“Girlfriends?”

Leon’s voice comes out a pitch higher than usual and there’s a knowing look on his face that makes Kara somewhat nervous. 

Leon is a smart boy. He’s known to figure things out on his own. Like learning how to float a few meters up the floor to get through the baby gates. Or blowing a bit of freeze breath when he wants to take his time eating his ice cream.

“What is it, love?” Kara asks, curious enough to just ask it outright. 

“Nothing,” he replies sweetly, but there’s a lilt in his voice that means something. Kara just knows it. She just doesn’t know what. 

“So when is it?” Alex asks, effectively grabbing Kara’s attention. 

Kara flushes when she answers. “This Saturday.”

“And where are you taking her?” 

“I might have an idea.”

The truth is Kara didn’t have one when she called Lena, too excited to ask the other woman out to even think of setting something up before making the call. But as soon as Lena had said yes, the gears in Kara’s brain started turning, coming up with an idea that she hopes is good enough for the CEO. 

It’s not something grand, but Kara feels pretty good about it. Feels like something simple but romantic enough that would sweep Lena off of her feet. 

Smiling to herself, Kara picks her phone back up and starts making calls. She has a few favors here and there that can help her with her plan. A few friends and some connections to give her access to where she wants to take Lena. 

Finalizing the whole thing, Kara can only hope that Lena would like what she’s setting up.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg here it finally is, kara and lena's first date. again, thank you all so much for supporting this fic, for reading and leaving comments and kudos-es. they're all the sustenance i need to keep going 
> 
> also, just a heads up, their date is split into 2 chapters. the second part of their date will be posted next week. hope that's okay. and if i haven't mentioned yet, all of my stories are unbeta-ed so if you see any mistakes, they're all mine 
> 
> here we go...

It’s the second Saturday that Lena isn’t in the office, but not because she doesn’t want to be. 

God Lena wants it so much right now. If only to distract herself with paperwork and numbers and blueprints. To shut off the world and work on something in her lab. To do something, anything, that would make her stop thinking about Kara and her pretty blue eyes and the warmth of her hand.

Anything that might clear her head and just make her stop worrying so much. Anything at all. 

But Lena knows that whatever distraction she comes up with would be futile. No way in hell is she going to be able to set aside her thoughts about Kara. Especially now, Lena glances at a digital clock, four hours before their date. 

She swallows the massive ball in her throat when she thinks of the word. _Date._

She’s going on a date with Kara Danvers. In four freaking hours. God. 

Scrambling from her bathroom -because yes Lena took the time to bathe again before her date just so she would smell extra flowery- Lena walks briskly towards her closet. 

Kara had texted her that morning to wear something comfortable and warm. Looking at her array of clothes, Lena wonders what Kara had meant. How warm is warm? Like a leather jacket kind of warm? Maybe a sweater and a jacket? A winter outfit? Jesus Christ.

She has a whole rack of trench coats. Would a trench coat be fine? Lena shakes her head. Maybe a peacoat. 

She starts running her fingers through the various collections that she has, picks out the dark green one that she knows brings out the color of her eyes. She’s about to try it on when she realizes that she hadn’t yet worn a pair of underwear. Great.

It takes her about half an hour to decide on a shirt because she has so many. God maybe she should donate some of them? Just so she could focus on her favorites? No. She likes all of her clothes. Whatever. _This isn’t the time to be thinking about something else,_ Lena berates herself. In the end she settles for a black long sleeve turtleneck and a pair of black pants. 

After putting on a simple necklace, Lena dashes towards her vanity and starts applying a thin layer of make-up. She doesn’t want to overdo it. Simply wants to look as fabulous as she can without being too glammed up. 

Deciding that she looks perfect, Lena puts back her make-up kit and shrugs on her green peacoat, completing her look by slipping on a pair of brown heeled ankle boots. 

She still has time. Five minutes to walk towards her kitchen and grab a bottle of scotch and a tumbler. Just two fingers, Lena tells herself. Just to calm her nerves. 

Two fingers turn to three of course. Not entirely surprising. 

Which is fine. Completely fine. Lena just really _really_ needs to soothe her anxiety because Kara Danvers is taking her out on a date. And she’s going to pick her up in -

Buzz. Buzz. 

Lena’s heart twists violently in her chest. 

She fishes for her cell phone inside of her purse, swipes to accept the call, and brings it up to her ear.

“Kara?” 

“Hey, Lena. I’m right downstairs,” comes the response.

Lena swallows thickly. “I’m on my way.”

She walks with shaky legs towards her private elevator. Pushes the button to the ground floor with trembling fingers. Lena doesn’t know how she makes it down but she does. 

And then Lena is walking out of her building and there she is. Right by the sidewalk standing by a light tinted car. Kara. Looking at her with bright blue eyes and a smile so glaringly brilliant that Lena thinks puts all of the stars to shame. 

Her heart starts thundering in her chest twice as fast, but Lena isn’t nervous now. No. She’s excited. Exhilarated. Not at all worried anymore. Not when Kara is looking back at her like she’s something so precious. 

“Hi,” Kara breathes out when she finally reaches her, and for the first time that day Lena lets herself relax.

_Wow_ is the only thing that comes to Kara’s mind when Lena steps out of her building and starts walking towards her. 

It’s like the whole universe has come to a standstill, everything but Lena moving closer in a slowed down music video with Spandau Ballet’s True playing in the background. God. Kara needs to get a grip. But she can’t even breathe right now. Not when Lena looks so unfairly beautiful. 

How the hell did Kara get so lucky?

“Hi,” she breathes out, feels all of her apprehension bleed away because Lena is right there in front of her and they’re really going out on a date. It isn’t just an elaborate dream. Not just some made up fantasy. Lena is really here.

“Hello. You look amazing,” Lena shyly compliments. 

“I was going to say the same thing.”

They become stuck in a staring slash smiling contest for a while before Kara snaps out of her daze and opens Lena’s door for her. She needs to hurry if she wants her date to go according to plan. 

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Lena asks once Kara is inside of the car. The blonde slips the key into the ignition and starts weaving through the highway. 

“I can tell you the first place that we’re going to. The second one is a surprise.”

“There’s a second place?”

Kara takes a glimpse of the other woman, returns the little smirk that is being thrown her way. “Of course there is.”

“Well now I’m more than thrilled.”

They fill the drive towards the restaurant with casual conversation. Lena asks Kara about work, about Leon, about whatever comes to mind, and Kara does the same. It’s all so easy, Kara thinks, how the words come out of her mouth, how she doesn’t have to think long and hard for a topic to talk about because they can start with the weather and somehow end up into a full blown discussion about what they were like in highschool. 

Now Kara has her secrets and she can tell by the way that Lena sometimes chooses not to disclose a few personal information that she does too, but apart from all of the heavy stuff, Lena makes it all so effortless to say everything else. 

It’s both amazing and terrifying at the same time. 

“We’re here,” Kara finally announces when they reach the pier. 

She turns off the engine and helps Lena out of her seat, offers her arm so they can walk together towards their first destination. 

Kara tells Lena that they’re heading to a family-owned place. A small old house by the seawall that the owners eventually transformed into a restaurant. It’s a hidden treasure that Kara often visits, one of her most favorite places that she would like to share with Lena. 

It’s when they’re entering a small alleyway that the delicious smell of food assaults their senses. A mix of tomatoes and herbs and spices. Kara watches as Lena closes her eyes to take in the fragrant smell, inhaling deeply and exhaling with a satisfied smile. 

“That smells delicious.”

“Wait ‘til you taste their specialties,” Kara says, leading Lena towards the restaurant at the end of the alley. 

“Kara,” an elderly woman greets her as she and Lena reach the end of the narrow lane. She gives Kara a firm hug, one that Kara gladly accepts and gives back. “Is this the woman that you said you were bringing?” 

“Yes, Luisa, this is Lena.”

The older woman takes a scrutinizing look at the young brunette, her features slowly lighting up and a wide smile appearing on her face. “Lena. _Que hermosa mujer_. Strong features, beautiful eyes. You sure know how to pick them, Kara.” 

There's a faint blush dusting Lena’s cheeks now that makes Kara’s heart flutter. She chuckles.

“The real question is why she picked me.”

“Oh stop that. You are beautiful as well, and _muy bondadosa_!” Luisa turns her attention to Lena. “If it weren’t for this girl’s article we would have closed our restaurant! She brought back the spotlight on our little treasure, _bendice su alma_.”

“You more than deserved it.”

“Still, we owe our success to you, which is why you always get the best seat in the house.”

At this, Luisa gestures towards the bistro’s entry. There’s a small opening a little ways from the main door, a dim hall that leads to a private terrace where an intimate setting lays before them. A raised dais rests on the far corner with a table set for two in the middle, plants and fairy lights adorning the wrought iron railing that separate the platform from the sea on the other side. 

Kara’s heart stumbles on itself when she hears Lena’s gasp. 

“This place is beautiful.”

And it is, with the moon and the stars above them, the soft glow of the lights illuminating the intimate space, the quiet lapping of the waves. Everything is set perfectly. 

But Kara’s eyes are trained on Lena when she mumbles, “It is.”

Lena watches amusedly as Kara puts another helping of paella onto her plate, the image reminding her of how Leon practically inhaled his food that time when they had dinner together. Now she knows who he got his appetite from. 

It shouldn’t enamore her but it does. Completely charms the pants off her how Kara looks at their food with so much light in her eyes. Like she’s happier to see their meal than she is seeing her. It makes Lena chuckle under her breath. 

“Slow down,” she jokes.

“Sorry. I’m repulsing you, aren’t I?”

“No. You’re enchanting me, if I’m being completely honest.”

The blush that paints Kara’s cheeks makes Lena snicker. She likes Kara like this best. When she’s flustered because of her, because of something that she said. It makes her heart soar and her stomach flip. God. 

“You’re really beautiful, did you know that?” Lena says, unable to help her growing confidence. She watches as Kara freezes, bites her lower lip, her blue eyes sparkling at her confession. 

“Stop that.”

“Stop what? Telling you the truth? Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re making me want to kiss you,” Kara whispers and _oh god_ Lena can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything but let her eyes drop down to Kara’s soft pink lips and wonder how they would feel pressed against her own. She’d been thinking about it since the week before, when Lena felt like kissing Kara for the first time at the park. 

“Kara…” Lena whispers. There’s a desperate kind of longing in her voice that she doesn’t even bother to conceal. What for? She wants it. Wants to know what Kara’s lips feel like, if it tastes like heaven like Lena thinks that it does.

“I want to.”

“But?”

“But I taste like food right now,” Kara smiles bashfully, cheeks still flaming pink and eyes still an extraordinary blue. “So now isn’t the right time. Later, though. Definitely. I promise,” and god Lena’s heart suddenly becomes a professional gymnast. 

She swallows the lump in her throat and tries her best to move on from that conversation. “Okay.”

They continue talking about anything and everything after that. Lena even finds herself sharing things that she normally wouldn’t. Not on the first date anyway. Like her relationship with her mother and her brother. How Lillian had always been strict and calculating when it comes to her. How Lex had always been the golden boy. How she knows that her family still cares about her despite their terrible way of showing it. She even tells Kara that she’s Lionel’s daughter with another woman. It’s public knowledge, sure, but it’s still something that she would like to share with Kara herself. 

In turn Kara tells her about her own family. How her parents had died when she was younger and how the Danverses had been such a blessing to her. Kara tells her about her cousin in Metropolis and how he and Kara don’t talk as often as she would like despite him being the only living biological relative that she has. It all comes to a point when Kara is telling her about her ex-boyfriend, how she regrets ever letting him in but would never regret having Leon.

“I love Alex and Eliza. They’re amazing and they’re as real to me as my real family. But Leon is my own blood, you know? So when I found out that I was pregnant, even if I was unprepared, even if I was having him with someone that I knew I couldn’t have a future with, I knew that I was going to go on. I was going to have him despite everything.”

“That was very brave of you, Kara. Choosing to raise a child by yourself, that’s truly remarkable. And you make it look so easy.”

Kara chuckles. “I have my family. They help a lot. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it weren’t for them. They keep me sane.”

“And you have Leon,” Lena beams when she sees the light in Kara’s eyes at the mention of her son. “He truly is a magnificent boy. You really did well.”

“Thank you, but really, it wasn’t all just me. I did most of the work, sure, but I had a lot of people on my corner.”

Lena bites her lip, wonders briefly if it’s okay that she’s admitting this. It’s too fast, she knows that but god,Lena can’t help it. All of her walls are down now, already destroyed by two pairs of beautiful blue eyes and disarming smiles but then again, did Lena even have her guards up with either Danvers? 

“Would it be okay if I become one of those people?” She whispers.

“What?”

“The people in your corner. Is it okay if I become one of them?” At Kara’s stunned silence, Lena continues, “I mean I know that it’s too soon and I understand completely if you have your reservations. Leon is your child after all. What he wants comes first. But if he would want me, in the future, if it even is possible, would you maybe consider maybe having me on your corner too?”

She doesn’t do this. She never has. All of the spaces that she occupies were either settled in because of her family name or taken by her because of her quick wit and unfailing strategy. She never asks to be considered. Never even has to. But now, god now _,_ Lena just has to ask. There’s no strategy to be planned, no strings to be pulled, no one to bend to submission. The ball is put firmly in Kara’s hand. It’s her decision now and it’s unlike any business transaction Lena’s ever dealt with. In fact it’s unlike any relationship, any interaction she’s ever had. Because this time it’s herself that she has to offer. Only herself. And Lena can’t help but wish and hope and desperately pray that she’s enough. 

Her heart starts hammering in her throat, her stomach dropping to her feet at the other woman’s silence. But then Kara is smiling ever so softly, taking her by the hand again and curling their fingers together. 

“We already want you, Lena,” she says, gentle but still so sure and genuine.

And oh,Lena feels herself releasing the breath that she had been holding. Her skin tingles from the warmth of Kara’s touch but more so from the tenderness of Kara’s words. 

Whatever achievement she’s accomplished before pales in comparison to this one night. This very moment. When Kara is looking at her with undeniable affection, their fingers intertwined atop the table in this restaurant she’s never been to, under the glow of the lights and light of the stars, the sound of the waves filling the silence, the feel of the breeze caressing her skin. And Kara telling her that she’s welcomed in both hers and her son’s life. 

Nothing compares to this. Nothing can even come close.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part 2 of kara and lena's date

They hold hands on their way back to the car. 

Lena’s hand is soft and warm and Kara can’t help but feel giddy. The night is going better than she could ever imagine, and it’s only going to get better. 

Kara opens Lena’s door for her before slipping into the driver’s seat.

“Ready for our second destination?” She asks. 

“Yes.”

Their second destination is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. 

Kara hides a grin as Lena begins looking around, probably uncertain if Kara is pulling a prank on her. There’s nothing else in sight except an army of trees after all. 

It’s when Kara is turning the engine off that Lena asks, “Are you sure you know where we are?”

It makes Kara chuckle. “Yes. I promise. Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” Lena answers without reluctance. It makes Kara’s heart glow how Lena doesn’t even hesitate, her trust in Kara firm and unshakable despite them only knowing each other for a short amount of time. 

She doesn’t know when she’d earned it, but now that she has it Kara promises herself that she would never break it. Lena’s trust, this one precious thing, is something that she will forever treasure and protect. 

Ignoring the growing tingle in the back of her mind, the one that starts with the word ‘secret’ and ends with the word ‘identity’, Kara focuses on the present. She’ll have time to tell Lena her own truth soon enough. She won’t drop this bomb on their first date, not when she can enjoy this moment of normalcy with the other woman. 

Tonight she’s not Supergirl. She’s just a girl holding her hand out to another girl, asking her to come out of their car lest they miss the second part of their date. 

When Lena finally slips out of the passenger seat, Kara ambles towards the backside of the car and pops open the trunk. She bends down, retrieving the blankets and the small cooler that she’d kept inside before closing it back down. 

“A picnic?” Lena asks and Kara smiles at the confused crinkle of the other woman’s brow. 

“Not really. Just follow me.”

They walk for a few good minutes on a path in between the trees, talking all the while to stave off the eerie silence around them. 

And then they’re reaching the end of the path, to where a bright light is welcoming them. Kara takes in the surroundings, the blankets on the grass, people perched on foldable chairs, the massive screen on the other side of the clearing. 

“Is this… Are we in a drive-in?” Lena gasps. Kara can’t tell if it’s a positive reaction. She stops in her tracks and fidgets nervously on the blanket in her arm. 

“Um, yeah. Is this okay?”

Lena doesn’t answer, simply grabs Kara’s wrist and all but drags her to an empty elevated spot. She takes the blankets from Kara and hastily arranges them on the grass, immediately plopping on it and patting on the space beside her. Kara chuckles, her earlier apprehension ebbing away.

“So an enthusiastic yes then?”

“I’ve never been to a drive-in before, but I’ve always wondered what it’s like.”

“Really? Well, welcome to your first experience,” Kara says as she sits beside Lena, draping an extra blanket around them. 

“Hmmm, thank you. How did you know about this place, by the way?”

“I know the person who organizes the event. It’s kind of been a tradition between me, Alex, and Leon to come whenever there’s a screening, and well, since there’s one tonight I thought it would be nice to bring you,” Kara answers, ignores the thumping of her heart at the unsaid confession that she brought Lena here because it’s something that she wants to share with the woman as well. 

Lena smiles at her, clearly touched by Kara’s response. Her eyes then drift towards the cooler. “What do you have there?”

Kara grins. She opens the cooler with a flourish, taking out a chilled bottle of wine and two red cups. 

“You really thought of everything, didn’t you?”

“I tried.”

She uncorks the wine and pours a generous amount on both cups, handing one to Lena before she returns the bottle to the cooler. 

They’re facing each other now, cups in hand, and cheeks tinted pink from the chilly night and the thundering of their hearts. 

“What should we toast to?” Kara asks her companion. The one looking at her with sparkling green eyes and a beautiful shy smile. 

Lena bites her lower lip before she answers. “To new beginnings.”

“How do you know all of the lines?” 

Lena doesn’t look away from the screen. “It’s the Princess Bride, Kara.”

She’s seen it before. Countless of times actually. She won’t admit it to anyone else but she likes this kind of movie. The genre. The romance and the comedy even if she hasn’t exactly experienced it for herself before. Looking with her peripherals, Lena spots Kara staring at the screen, chuckling at Iñigo Montoya’s introduction. There’s a niggling thought in the back of her mind that maybe she can experience it all this time. 

She’s on her third cup of wine when she stops looking at the screen, more content with looking at the woman beside her. 

The glow of the screen far away from them makes Kara’s features softer. The angle of her jaw, the curve of her nose, the pout of her lips. God, those lips. Those pink plump things that Lena can’t tear her gaze from. Can’t stop imagining pressed against her own. 

“You should be focusing on the movie,” Kara whispers, her eyes never leaving the screen. 

“I found something I’d like to look at more.”

And then Kara is turning to look at her, those breathtaking blue eyes piercing her own and  _ god _ Lena just wants to inch closer. To touch. 

Tonight has so far been the best night she’s ever had. The best date she’s ever been taken on. It’s intimate and well-thought of and it’s just so Kara. Shows the way that she cares about someone to think of something that they might enjoy. Unlike her previous dates with ill-suited men who only date her to impress, to show off that they can book the most expensive restaurants and buy the most costly champagnes. As if she can’t afford them herself. No. Kara took her to places that she treasures. Places that are close to her heart. Places that she shares with the people that are in it. Lena breathes out.  _ God.  _ Kara is going to be the death of her. 

“Lena.”

“Hmm?”

“Stop staring,” Kara whispers.

“Why?”

“You’re making me want to kiss you again.”

Lena’s heart stops when Kara’s eyes drop down to her lips, her tongue darting out to wet her own. She’s leaning closer, she knows that but god she can’t pull herself away. Not when Kara is pulling her to her orbit with that look. 

They’re only inches apart now, so close that they can feel their breaths mingling with one another. 

“Kara?”

“Yes?”

“Is it the right time yet?”

Kara surges forward. The answer that she gets makes time stop, makes her heart rise up to her throat and her stomach sink down to her knees. The answer is soft and firm and deliciously tastes like wine. Makes her toes tingle and her head float and  _ fuck. _ So this is how it feels to be kissed by Kara Danvers.

She doesn’t know how long it lasts. It may have been seconds. It may have been minutes. Although it felt like it had been hours because of the way that Lena’s lips still tingle when they finally pull apart. Kara doesn’t let her think more about it though because hands are caressing her jaw and pulling her in closer again. 

It’s firmer the second time around. More insistent. Kara opens her mouth and Lena takes it as an invitation to slip her tongue in, pulling back and bringing Kara’s bottom lip along with her teeth. She gets a groan in response and  _ oh my god.  _

“Shit,” Kara mutters when they part and fuck, Lena finds herself loving the way that she curses. “I don’t know why we waited that long.”

That makes Lena snicker. “You said you tasted like food.”

“Oh crap. Do I still?”

“No, darling. You taste heavenly,” Lena winks, enjoys the blush that creeps up Kara’s neck. 

They can’t stop kissing after that. Or touching. Finding each other’s arm or wrist or hand even as they’re driving back to the main road. 

They can’t even stop glancing at one another. 

“I’m really glad that I asked you out,” Kara giggles as her right hand toys with Lena’s fingers.

“I’m glad that I said yes, although it wasn’t like I was going to ever say no anyway.” Lena blushes at her admission. “Can we do this again some other time?”

Kara chances a glance at her. “Yeah?”

“Of course, Kara. I… Well, I want more of this. Of us going out and spending time with one another.”

Kara bites her lower lip, glances at the other woman again. “And kissing?”

That makes Lena chuckle. “Yes. More of that too. Definitely.”

They weave through the streets of National City and eventually end up in front of Lena’s building. Kara slides out of her seat to open Lena's door for her. Ever the gentlewoman. 

She walks Lena towards the entrance, stopping just a few meters away from the glass doors. 

“Oh. You don’t want to get up?” Lena asks.

“As much as I would love to, I should go home. I don’t want to miss Leon’s bedtime. He’s staying up a little to wait for me.” 

Lena nods and Kara instantly sees the understanding in her eyes, the way that she visibly softens when Leon’s name is mentioned and god it melts her heart even more. There’s no denying that Lena has fallen in love with her little boy too, and it’s honestly the most important thing for Kara if she wants to move forward with this. And she does. She badly wants it. Wants to take Lena everywhere with Leon in between them. Wants movie nights and pizza dates and sneaking around when they’re having game night with her friends. She wants all of it and so much more. 

“Of course. Say ‘hi’ to him for me?”

“I will. I’m sure he’ll bug me to call you tomorrow anyway. He likes you so much. He really does.”

Lena grins. “I really like him too. He’s a great kid.”

“I know. I’m his mom after all,” Kara jokes, earning a light chuckle from the other woman. She leans in for another sweet kiss as a means of saying goodbye, and she’s too into it, too focused on the press of Lena’s warm mouth against hers that she doesn’t hear the flashless clicking from somewhere around them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> clap if you noticed that (borrowed and adapted) line from notting hill 
> 
> also i'm thinking of deleting that social media au lmao it's hard to make it convincing when the characters aren't always on their phones but idk lemme try harder


	9. Chapter 9

A week of texting and calling Kara passes by swiftly and Lena doesn’t remember being this happy. Doesn’t remember the last time that her cheeks hurt from smiling too much or too widely. Doesn’t remember being this excited when her cell phone rings because for the first time it’s someone calling to check up on her or ask about her day. Most times it’s an enthusiastic and high-pitched voice on the other end of the line. Someone who has the same thick framed glasses hiding the same ocean blue eyes. Lena is always delighted to talk to Leon, especially when he’s rambling on about what happened in school the previous day or when he’s telling Lena that his mom almost burned the pancakes again. She likes it most when she hears Leon laugh. It reminds her of Kara so much, of how they both do it so freely. It’s easily one of Lena’s most favorite sounds. 

“Miss Luthor?” Eve calls out, opening Lena’s door a smidge and poking her head in. It brings Lena out of her reverie. “Miss Kara Danvers and Leon are in the lobby for you. Should I tell them to come up?”

The question throws Lena in for a loop. She doesn’t recall scheduling anything with Kara for today.

“Yes. Oh, and Eve? Just wave them through next time.”

The blonde assistant nods with a smile before retreating. It takes a few minutes before Lena’s door tentatively opens again, this time to reveal Kara and Leon with matching grins on their faces.

“Kara. Leon. Come in.”

“Hi Lena!” The little boy greets with a wave. 

Lena stands up from her chair to round her desk and Leon instantly engulfs her legs in a tight embrace, Kara instinctively kissing her cheek when she meets them in the middle of her office. Lena blushes from both contacts, cheek burning at the sensation of Kara’s soft lips and heart glowing at Leon’s unabashed display of affection.

“I’m sorry that we came unannounced but you mentioned having a terrible last few days. So we thought you could use a pick-me-up.” 

Lena looks down at Kara’s hand, the one holding a Chinese takeout bag. She smiles shyly. “You didn’t have to.”

“I know, but I haven’t seen you since our date last week and well, I missed you.” There’s a boyish grin accompanying the twinkle in Kara’s eyes that makes Lena’s heart stutter. She bites her lower lip when she ducks her head and says,

“I really missed you too.”

“I missed you too, Lena, but I didn’t whine about it,” Leon suddenly huffs, moving away from both women and taking a seat on the couch. 

That catches Lena’s interest. “What do you mean you didn’t whine about it?”

“Well Momma kept pouting the entire time because she missed you. She was like a big baby. But not me! I was a big patient boy!”

“Okay, okay. I think that’s enough,” Kara sheepishly interrupts. “But yeah, okay. Maybe I was a little impatient to see you again.”

The words find their way straight to Lena’s heart and if it weren’t for the little boy looking up at them Lena would have pulled Kara by the lapels of her coat and kissed her breathless. 

Kara, somehow reading Lena’s mind, grins and turns to her son. 

“Darling? Remember what I taught you to do when we would watch a movie and the people on the screen start kissing?”

Leon makes a face. “Cover my eyes!” He says as he brings his pudgy little hands up to his face. 

“That’s right. Keep covering them for a while.”

And then Kara’s lips are covering Lena’s, warm and firm and lingering. Lena licks her lips when they pull apart for air, the taste of Kara’s cherry chapstick sweet on her tongue. 

“I missed you,’ Kara whispers and it takes everything in Lena not to kiss her again. Not when Leon is beginning to take sneaky peeks through the spaces of his fingers. 

“I missed you too.” Lena turns to the giggling boy next. “I missed you too, Leon.”

The boy removes his hands from his face. “I need to wash my eyes with bleach.”

“What?” Kara laughs. “Where did you learn that from?”

“Aunt Alex taught me to say that. She said to say it out loud when I see you and Lena kissing.”

Kara and Leon stay in Lena’s office longer than they intended to. 

It wasn’t their plan but both Danvers couldn’t say no when Lena had requested that they keep her company. She was busy, Kara could tell, but if Lena wanted them there then she and her son would stay. 

Kara wants to be one of the people in Lena’s corner too. 

She stays silent for the most part, content with watching Lena working or listening to Lena answer Leon’s questions. 

He’s had a lot of them, asking about what she’s doing and why her office doesn’t have a lot of pictures. 

“Momma has our pictures on her table,” he tells Lena. 

Lena tries a smile. “Well, I guess I don’t have many pictures to put. The only ones that I have are over there.” She points to a cabinet on one side of the office and Kara and Leon walk over towards the area to examine the frames. 

“Who is that lady?” Leon is quick to ask, pointing to a simple black frame sitting on the center of the middle shelf. 

“That’s Sam. She’s my friend.”

It’s Kara that speaks this time. “Is she back in Metropolis?”

“Mhm. We haven’t been speaking so much since I moved here. I mean, we text and we try to catch up, but we never seem to move past the usual surface level conversations.”

“How come? 

Lena sighs dejectedly, her shoulders sagging when she answers. “Because I’m a lousy friend.”

“Hey, no. I’m sure that’s not true,” Kara is quick to reassure. She’s already making her way towards Lena when she continues, “You’ve been busy is all. You’ve had a really trying year. I mean, I’m no expert, but rebranding a company sounds like hard work. I’m sure that Sam understands that.”

“She does. She always does, and yes, I have been quite busy, but Sam deserves so much more than just cheap small talk.” 

“Well,” Leon suddenly chimes in. “Friends aren’t perfect. Momma taught me that.”

“That’s right,” Kara beams at her son, happy that he remembers a valuable lesson. She turns to Lena, “What’s important is that you try to make yourself available. Do you?”

“I do.”

“Then that’s the only thing that matters. I’m sure that Sam sees that. Just... maybe try harder next time.”

Lena nods. Kara is right. She can always try harder to make Sam feel as important as she truly is. Lena values her and their relationship, and she’s going to make sure that Sam knows that. Tonight. She tells herself. She’s going to call Sam and tell her just how much she appreciates their friendship.

It’s when Leon suddenly speaks that Lena is brought back to reality.

“Momma? Where’s your wallet?” 

“It’s in my bag. Why do you ask?” But the boy doesn’t answer. He simply strides towards Kara’s handbag on the table by the couch and grabs what he is looking for. Opening the wallet, Kara watches as Leon takes something before returning it. He zips Kara’s bag closed and walks towards them behind Lena’s table.

“What do you have in your hand?” Lena asks and Leon holds out a small picture of himself. It’s an old photograph taken back when he was around four years old. A photo of him in a brown tuxedo because Kara had always insisted that Leon dress up for Thanksgiving.

“You can have this so you have one more picture to put on your cabinet,” he says and Kara hears the hitch in Lena’s breath. 

Kara can’t see the other woman’s reaction from her position behind her, but she can hear the reverence in her voice, the happiness and affection when she answers. 

“Thank you, Leon. Thank you so much. This means so much to me.”

“You’re welcome, Lena.”

Lena stares at the picture that Leon had given her, feels her chest tighten looking at his unruly hair and too-big glasses, the blues of his eyes sparkling like seas reflecting the glimmer of the sun. And then she looks up from the photograph, to the blonde haired woman humming an unfamiliar melody to a sleeping boy on her couch. Feels her heart stretch to accommodate the enormous and still growing amount of genuine affection that she has for both mother and son. 

She never imagined that she could feel like this, not with her upbringing, the family that she grew up with. 

Sure, the Luthors weren’t all that bad. She grew up having the best opportunities, had been spoiled rotten with everything that she could ever want. But it was different in the mansion. Love and care were hard to come by. It was always competition and perfection, standards and expectations. Lillian had her motherly moments, but they were all hidden beneath snark and sarcasm, and Lionel had mostly been absent. Lex had been her childhood best friend, still considers him that until now, but she can’t deny how she had always felt like she needed to compete with him growing up. How she always had to prove her worth in the family. 

In short, she was never taught to be loving. She was never taught to be soft. 

But that’s how she feels right now as she watches Kara sweep a strand of hair away from Leon’s sleeping face. 

“Hey,” Kara says, standing up from the couch and walking back towards her. 

“What’s that song you were singing to him?” Lena asks and notices the way that Kara instantly flinches. The blonde woman stammers. 

“I, uh, it’s… It’s the song that my biological mother used to sing to me. When she was still alive.”

Lena winces. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, no. It’s alright. I like sharing these things with you. I guess I’m just not used to telling people about these parts of me.”

“Well, now you have someone you can tell everything to.” 

Kara falters again, but Lena pays it no mind. Tells herself that it’s just her mind playing tricks on her. Kara trusts her, right?

She doesn’t think about it until Kara and Leon leave. 

It’s almost four in the afternoon when Kara wakes Leon up and tells him that they need to head home. He cheers, suddenly remembering that they’re meeting Kara’s friends for dinner that night. 

“You should come along. Next time, I mean. If you want to, and if you’re not busy. I want you to meet my friends,” Kara cutely rambles when they’re stepping into the elevator. Lena is coming along with them, insisting that she walks Kara and Leon down the main entrance of the building. 

Lena smiles broadly, her heart soaring at the invitation. “I would love that, Kara. Next time. I promise.”

They’re quiet on the way down, but Kara’s hand interlocks with hers the moment that the elevator doors close. When it opens again a few floors down and an influx of employees step inside, Kara tugs her closer to her side. 

It’s the little things that make Lena fall deeper. 

She walks them right outside the building just because she wants to make sure that Kara and Leon get in a cab safely. She doesn’t care that her staff are watching her, curious as to why the CEO of an international billion dollar company is personally escorting a woman and a child towards the exit, intrigued that she and this said woman are holding hands in front of everyone to see. 

She doesn’t care about all of that. She could hold Kara’s hand forever and never want to let go. 

“Thank you again for today. I really appreciate you stopping by,” Lena says when they’re finally on the sidewalk. “You know you don’t have to ride a cab. I can call my driver and he’ll-,”

Kara stops her with a gentle squeeze on her hand. “It’s fine, Lena. We’ll ride a cab. And you don’t have to thank me for visiting you. We wanted to see you. We missed you.”

“I missed you too. And I’m gonna miss you again as soon as you get in a taxi,” Lena says, soft and shy and so _so_ honest. 

She sees the way that Kara’s eyes soften for her. Her heart fills up. 

“I’m going to miss you too.” They stare at one another for a minute before Kara hesitantly asks. “Can I kiss you? Here?”

Lena responds by stepping forward and putting her lips against Kara. 

“Ahhh!” Leon yelps, immediately covering his eyes with his tiny hands, leaving Kara and Lena to part and laugh at his antics. 

It’s a good day. A wonderful, fantastic, marvelous day. But there’s a niggling in the back of Lena’s mind. Something telling her that they shouldn’t have done that. That no matter how happy she feels, she should have been more careful. 

She turns her head and right behind a blue car parked about five meters from them is a man with a camera hanging down his neck. 


	10. Chapter 10

The loud and incessant banging on the door startles Kara awake. 

The first thing that she does is look beside her, check if Leon’s sleep had been disturbed by whoever decided to wake them up at -Kara takes a glance at the digital clock on the bedside table - 6:31 in the morning. They shouldn’t be up for another half hour.

Groaning, Kara puts a steady hand on Leon’s chest, likes to feel his heartbeat to make sure that he’s still fast asleep. Thankfully, Leon has his anklet on so his super hearing should be subdued. 

Whoever is outside is going to get it. 

Kara slips out of the bed and grabs her glasses on the way. She uses her x-ray vision before putting it on. 

The sight of the woman outside of her front door makes her stop. What in the hell?

Surely she’s mistaken. 

She shakes her head. Squints again. 

She rushes towards the front door, is quick to unlock it and swing it open before the woman on the other side of the threshold can raise her fist again. 

“Miss Grant,” Kara breathes out.

“What happened to Cat?” The older woman asks as she breezes her way into the apartment. 

“Cat. Right. I’m sorry. I’m just shocked that you’re here.”

Cat doesn’t smile. “I’m sure that you are, but we have pressing matters to talk about.”

Kara closes the door behind her and continues staring at her former boss. Her hair is the same wavy blonde, the same length, the same bounce. She looks more tired somehow, but her shine is still bright. 

“What pressing matters?” Kara asks when she finally finds her voice. It’s when Cat is handing her a print out that she notices the papers in the older woman’s hand. “What is this?”

She reads the headline. 

**_Confirmed: Lena Luthor is dating single mom and CatCo reporter, Kara Danvers_ **

Kara feels her stomach swirl. 

“I...These pictures.”

“That’s right, Kara. Pictures. Plural,” Cat says, the concern seeping through her voice. “I did the best that I could. I pulled a few connections here and there to stop this article from going public. The magazines won’t be publishing them. And I called Winn as soon as I was notified. He already found a way to remove it from the gossip sites.”

“But?”

“But these pictures, Kara. They’re still circulating online. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Tumblr, even. I can’t very well stop everyone from posting and reposting them. People have already seen them, Kara.”

Kara is frozen in place, mouth still hanging open as she thumbs through the three sheet piece of her and Lena, complete with pictures of them after their date, pictures of them in the park, and pictures of them yesterday outside of L-Corp. 

Now Kara wouldn’t mind being photographed with Lena, and objectively speaking, as a journalist, she can say that their pictures are actually quite good. They look good. But the pressing issue is that being photographed with Lena means being hounded by paparazzi, by fellow journalists. And that wouldn’t be a problem if it was just her. But Leon’s pictures are in the prints too. 

Kara feels her stomach sink to the soles of her feet. 

She looks up at Cat, unsure of what to say. She’s still in shock, frozen that Cat is in town, in her house, bringing her this news. But most of all, she’s frozen with dread at seeing her pictures with Lena, pictures that have Leon in them. Her son.

Cat sighs, bothered by Kara’s silence. She takes a step forward, a confident show of care and thoughtfulness that is so unlike the Catherine Grant the whole world knows her to be. But Kara has seen this side of the older woman more times than she can count. 

“I know what it’s like, Kara. To be a woman navigating her career whilst taking care of a child on her own. I know what it’s like to be criticized by the public eye, to be hounded by relentless photographers. I was a gossip columnist, you know this. I know how vicious they can be. And I… I don’t want that for you. We’re friends, as you have persisted us to be,” Cat says with a fond lilt of her lips, “And I take care of my friends. I most especially take care of my godchildren. But there are some things that I can’t control now.”

Kara stands silent as Cat continues.

“Being surrounded by the paparazzi cannot be good for your alter-ego, and it can only spell disaster for Leon. He’s the one I’m worried most about with this whole thing.”

Kara gulps. Cat is right. 

“I’m happy for you. I’m glad that you’ve found someone after that pathetic excuse of a man-child that fathered your precious little angel, but please. I can only do so much in Washington when I’m bombarded by my own duties. Lucky for you I was already in town when I got the message.”

“Thank you,” Kara finally breathes out, still completely shell shocked at the turn of events, but fine enough to be able to express her gratitude. All this time and Cat is still looking out for her -whether she’s Supergirl or Kara Danvers. “Thank you so much, Cat. This means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome,” Cat says, a gentle smile on her face before her expression turns somber once again. “Now, what do you plan on doing about this?”

Kara is about to answer when she hears a pair of heavy footsteps making their way towards her apartment. She already knows who they belong to.

“You said you were being careful,” Alex chides as soon as she steps through the threshold. Kara watches as her older sister makes her way towards the kitchen, stands in front of the coffee machine to make herself a mug. It’s way too early for them to both be stressed, but here they are. 

“I was being careful, Alex.”

“Those pictures beg to differ. If it weren’t for Cat here…,” Alex gestures vaguely to where Cat is standing arms-crossed in the living room. “You’re lucky that she’s your friend. You’re luckier that she agreed to be Leon’s godmother.”

Kara looks to her former boss, at the fondness on her face at the mention of being Leon’s godmother. “I know.”

She remembers it well, Cat’s last day at CatCo before she left James in charge. Leon was just a few weeks old. They’d grown closer by then, had become friends. Cat was telling her about her plans when Kara stood up from her seat and hugged her. It was long overdue, she thought at that time. Cat had been her ally, her mentor, her supporter. She helped her become a better hero and a better person. Had been there to help her with her pregnancy, had made sure that there were news about and sightings of Supergirl despite her being off-duty because of Leon. Kara hadn’t even told her about Supergirl then, but Cat knew and Cat was eager to help. Hell, the woman made her a reporter not just because she was talented but because she knew that Kara needed a better job for her to raise her son. It was the biggest and most generous kindness. 

Kara asked her when they pulled back. ‘Will you do us the honor of being Leon’s second godmother?’ Cat beamed when she said yes.

She sighs, a deep and long exhale that deflates Alex’s tense shoulders. 

“You understand why this is an issue, right?” 

“I do! Of course I do. It’s the only thing that I can think about right now, Alex.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kara shakes her head, her frown deepening. “I should’ve known when these were taken. I should have heard the clicking, or seen the flashes. Now, Leon’s face is splashed all over the news and it’s all my fault.”

“Hey,” Alex says, her voice instantly becoming soft at the sight of her sister slowly beginning to shake. “I’m sorry. We’re just really worried, but this isn’t your fault.”

“It is! I was being careful, but apparently not careful enough! And Cat, Rao,” Kara says when she turns to the older woman. “What if you didn’t see it? What if you hadn’t stopped it? I can’t always rely on you for this.”

Cat rushes to Kara’s side, instantly puts a steady hand on her former assistant’s shoulder. “No, you can’t, but you can count on me anyway.”

It’s enough to make Kara burst into tears. 

Alex immediately jogs to Kara’s side, is quick to pull her in for an embrace.

“I’m scared,” Kara confesses, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks at the admittance. Her voice trembles. Her hands shake. Deep in her heart there’s a clenching pain.

Down the hall is her boy, still sleeping soundly. Kara listens to his heartbeat. To the sound that matters the most to her. She loves him so much. So much. Can’t imagine what she would do if something bad were to happen to him. If people find out who she is, who they are. He’s Supergirl’s son. Of course he’ll get caught in the crossfires. He’ll be the first one they’ll take away from her. 

Alex’s voice is soft when she responds. “We all are, Kara. But I promise you that we’re here for you, for Leon. Just... You have to be careful.”

Kara sniffs. “What does that mean?”

Alex holds her tighter. “It means that you’re allowed to share your heart. We all want you to. We’re all happy for you. But just...guard the whole of it, okay?”

Kara nods, gathers herself enough to wipe her tear-stained cheeks. “I need to talk to Lena.”

Lena groans. Her cell phone has been ringing ceaselessly since god knows what time. She has half the mind to throw the damn thing across the room, but she decides to pick it up and press it against her ear. 

Her voice is muffled when she speaks. “Hello?”

“Lena, it’s Tess.” Her publicist. 

“What’s going on, Tess?” Lena sits up, rubs her eyes with her fists. 

“It’s not bad,” the woman says, “It’s actually good news.”

“Just tell me.”

“Photographs of you and a woman named Kara Danvers are all over the internet. The original article had been taken down, but I suspect that some people had read it and had the pictures saved.”

Lena feels her throat constrict. She’s suddenly awake, suddenly completely aware of everything. “Shit _. Shit, shit, shit._ ”

“What’s the matter, Lena? It’s a good thing.”

“How is that a good thing?” Lena snaps. She knows that she shouldn’t. Tess is a good person. She’s been looking out for her since even before she moved to National City. But Lena can’t help it. Her heart is heavy and her throat is dry and fucking hell _,_ she should’ve seen this coming. She knows who she is, knows the kind of attention that she attracts. She should have been more careful for Chrissake. 

“Look, I know that you hate having anything other than your work on the news, but these pictures are painting you in a different light, Lena. They make you look more approachable. More accessible in a way. Especially the pictures of you at the park -,”

Lena feels her whole body turn cold. “The park?”

“Yes, Lena, the park. You and Kara Danvers with her child?”

Everything spins violently after that. 

You and Kara Danvers with her child. _Child._

The word resonates and bounces around in her head. Child. Child. Child. 

“Tess, I’m going to have to call you back.”

She ends the call before Tess can object. And then with trembling hands, Lena dials Kara’s number. 

It rings twice before she hears Kara’s voice on the other end of the line.

“Lena?”

“Kara, oh my god, I’m so sorry. I haven’t seen the pictures yet but my publicist called and, god, I should have been more careful. This is all my fault.”

“We need to talk,” is what Kara says in response and Lena wishes that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. Those words usually never bode well for her. 

“Yes, of course. Shall we meet somewhere?”

A sniffle. “No, I think it's best if we aren’t seen in public right now.”

Lena shuts her eyes, puts a steady hand on her chest. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. 

Things were working out for her. She was so close to having everything she ever wanted. A job that she’s passionate about. Friends to reconnect with. Someone who wants her just as much as she wants them. She was doing better than she ever was. And then this. Why can’t she have it all? She deserves to have it all, doesn’t she?

“Yes, I understand. Do you want me to come over to your place instead?” Lena asks, her voice never once faltering despite the ache in her chest. 

“Yes, please.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in an hour.”

She gets there faster, what with her anxiety looming over her and the need to smooth things out with the other woman. She needs to fix this, needs to reassure Kara that they’ll be more careful next time and that it won’t happen again. Needs to let Kara know that Leon’s face will never be on the tabloids ever again, because Lena knows that that’s what Kara is most worried about. 

“Hi. Thank you for coming over,” Kara says when she opens her front door for Lena. She doesn’t kiss Lena’s cheek, doesn’t seem like she’s planning on moving towards Lena for any sort of contact. Lena understands, she does, but that doesn’t mean that her heart doesn’t splinter at the thought that she might lose Kara over this. 

“Where is Leon?”

“He’s with Alex.”

Lena walks further into Kara’s apartment. She looks around as she tries to balance herself, takes in the homey space laid out all around her. Kara’s apartment feels so intimate. There are pictures adorning the shelves, and drawings of Leon and test papers littered with stars. A crate brimming with toys is in one corner, but there are stuffed toys sitting on the couch in the living room. Everything about the apartment screams Kara and Leon, and Lena can’t help but wish that she was there under different circumstances. 

“I’m so sorry,” she says, turning to face Kara with the utmost sincerity. 

“Don’t apologize, Lena. It was my fault too. I knew who you were from the beginning. I knew that you were a public figure, that photographers follow you everywhere. I should have been more attentive.”

Lena sags. “Tell me what I can do to make things better.”

“There isn’t anything that we can do, Lena,” Kara sighs, slumping down on a kitchen stool and looking at Lena with soft sad eyes. “The pictures are already out there, and Cat could only do so much with the original article -,”

“Cat? Cat Grant?” Lena interrupts. 

“Yeah. Cat.”

Lena feels a flicker of jealousy come alive within her, but she knows better than to let it simmer, knows that she’s only bitter because it was someone else who had come to Kara’s rescue. 

“Listen, Lena,” Kara starts and Lena feels her heart begin to clench. This is it, she thinks. This is when Kara lets her go. This is when everything ends and Lena falls to pieces, falls back to being alone. The thought brings a deep and profound ache to Lena’s entire body. It isn’t just her heart that’s breaking. It’s everything. Every organ and every bone feels like it might crack and disintegrate at the thought of Kara leaving her. At the thought of never being able to hold Kara and Leon again. 

The torture must be seen in Lena’s face because Kara moves towards her in three quick steps. Her arms wrap around Lena and Lena instantly falls and melts into her. 

She shouldn’t be the one crying, but here she is, breaking down in front of Kara because she can’t imagine a life without her and Leon now. Not after seeing how life should be lived, how she can be loved. 

“Lena,” Kara shushes. Her voice is thick with emotions and Lena can feel the other woman’s tears seep through her clothes. “Hey, no. Don’t cry. Whatever you’re thinking now, that isn’t going to happen.”

Lena pulls back to look at Kara. “No? You mean… You’re not breaking up with me?”

“No! Of course not, Lena. That’s far from what I want.”

“Oh god, oh my god,” Lena sobs, holding Kara tighter as if she’s trying to mold herself with the other woman. It’s a surprise that Kara’s bones don’t break from the hold. 

“Hey, we’re okay. We’re okay. I promise. We just need to work this out. We just need to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. I just want Leon to be safe.”

Lena pulls back again. There’s a fire in her eyes when she answers. “Of course. Leon is our topmost priority here. I will do everything in my power to make sure that no one photographs Leon ever again.”

“Thank you. That’s all that I want. But I won’t lie to you, Lena. I was scared when I saw the pictures. I was angry and I was devastated, and yes, the thought of cutting ties with you had crossed my mind. But I can’t do it. I can’t let what we have go.”

“I can’t either.”

“Then we won’t,” Kara says. 

There’s an underlying statement there. Lena knows it, can hear it echoing despite it being unsaid. Kara won’t say it but it’s there. _If it happens again_ …

Lena doesn’t think about it, would rather bask in Kara’s warmth and the steady beating of her heart. She lets it wash over her and calm her down. 

It won’t happen again, Lena tells herself. She won’t let anything happen to Leon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine having cat grant for a godmother


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quarantine's got me slacking off lmao

Kara and Lena don’t see each other in public as often as they used to after what had happened, and when they do meet up, it’s usually just in between breaks or during their lunch hour. After the whole paparazzi fiasco, both women have decided that it’s safer that they see each other indoors, either in Lena or in Kara’s apartment, which in all honesty, doesn’t happen frequently either. 

Still, it’s been a peaceful few weeks, and Kara can tell that the story has died down. Her coworkers no longer talk about her and Lena in hushed tones, and Kara doesn’t notice anyone curiously side-eyeing her anymore. 

Still, Kara is overly alert when she and Leon go out. Always one ear focused on her son while the other listens closely for signs of anyone that might be following them. She’s become a little paranoid since the incident, but no one questions her for it. 

It’s more than understandable. 

Her whole family has also become a little more watchful. Winn has taken it upon himself to check online publications every now and then. James and Cat, on the other hand, have been looking at magazines and newspapers. Meanwhile, Alex and the entirety of the DEO have been making sure that Supergirl’s enemies haven’t discovered her secret yet. 

Leon’s doctor’s appointments have also become more frequent. Alex and Winn have been tweaking Leon’s anklet often, ensuring that Leon’s powers are appropriately subdued. 

Kara hates that she has to quell Leon’s developing powers, but she also knows that it’s for his own safety. Leon is young and can sometimes lose control. He will have to master his own abilities before anyone in their family can be confident about letting him out without his anklet.

Still, Kara makes certain that nothing changes. Leon can go out whenever he wants to. He can visit the museum with his mother, run around in the park, or stroll along the beach. He’s a restless boy. An outdoors lover just like his momma. He wants the sun beating down on him on a daily basis, wants to look up at the skies and see the birds overhead. Kara doesn’t want to lock him up just because of that one incident. It’s on her to be extra attentive when they’re out.

The only other change that he experiences is that he doesn’t get to see Lena that often as well. Lena had been the one to decide on that, much to Leon’s disapproval. He misses her, wants to see her everyday if he could. 

It warms and twists Kara’s heart both at the same time.

They’re in the apartment that afternoon. There hasn’t been a single Supergirl emergency since the beginning of the week, much to Kara’s delight. She and Leon are eating pizza and watching cartoons on Netflix when Kara hears a familiar heartbeat coming up the stairs. 

She’s by the door before Lena can knock. 

“Oh, Kara. How did you know I was outside?” Lena asks when the door swings open. 

“I didn’t. I was waiting for Alex,” is what Kara responds with. It’s a lie, obviously, but Lena doesn’t know that. 

“Lena!” Comes an excited squeal from the living room. Leon bounds towards Lena but then stops himself from tackling the woman. He smiles sheepishly. “I’m greasy. But I missed you.”

Lena chuckles. She lowers herself to Leon’s level and kisses the top of his head. “I missed you too, Leon.”

“What are you doing here? Do you and Momma have a date?”

The question makes both women blush. 

“No, dear, but I thought it would be nice to surprise the two of you. I didn’t bring anything with me though.”

“It’s okay, Lena. We don’t need anything but you.”

Kara watches as Lena’s eyes glisten with adoration. She doesn’t respond, probably too tongue-tied with fondness. They watch as Leon skips back to the living room to finish off his pizza.

“Your son is amazing,” Lena finally says, still looking at the little boy devouring his meal. 

“Like his mother.”

Kara uses her knuckles to tilt Lena’s head. Once the woman is facing her, Kara leans in and captures her lips in a tender kiss. 

Lena scrunches her nose when they pull back. 

“Greasy,” she says with a teasing expression.

Kara laughs. “Like her son.”

She lets Lena remove her heels and hang her coat up before they move to the kitchen. Kara is washing her hands when Lena clears her throat.

“There’s actually a reason why I came.”

“Yeah?”

“Hmmm. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Kara can hear the hesitation in Lena’s voice, sees it when she turns and finds the other woman biting down on her lower lip. She turns the faucet off and gives Lena her full attention.

“What is it about?”

Lena glances at Leon and then turns back to Kara. “I hired two bodyguards.”

“For yourself? What for? Did something happen?”

“No, no. I just… I hired them for us. For Leon, mostly.”

Kara stiffens. “What?”

At the panicked look on Kara’s face, Lena rushes to explain. “It’s not for him per se. I just mean that they’ll be there when we decide to go out together.  _ If _ we decide to, in the future. I mean, I would never rush you, and I know that it was me who decided not to be seen with Leon in public. We both know that it’s for the best anyway. But when, if, we decide that it’s okay for us to go out again, the three of us, then the bodyguards will be there. They’ll be discreet. They won’t bother us. They’ll just be around to keep an eye on things. See if there are photographers lurking around.”

“I-I don’t know what to say, Lena.”

Lena sighs. “I’m still accountable for what happened, Kara. No matter what you say, they were there for me. It was my personal life that they were after. I just… I wanted to do something to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. I want you to feel safe with me. I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to protect you and Leon. I… I care about you.”

“Lena…”

“But if you think that the bodyguards are too much then I’ll call the agency and tell them not to-,”

Kara doesn’t let her finish. 

She walks towards Lena and wraps her in her arms. There’s no need for bodyguards, Kara wants to tell her, but she can’t. Not yet. Even if she desperately wants to. Even if it’s getting harder and harder to keep her secret. 

She’ll do it one day, Kara promises herself. She’s not holding back. She’s just...waiting for the right moment. 

Lena panics. She almost said it. Those three words. They almost came out of her mouth. 

She takes a deep breath, lets the warmth of Kara’s embrace soothe her. She’s not panicking because she doesn’t want to say it. On the contrary, she’s panicking because she  _ wants  _ to. But it’s too early, isn’t it? They even haven’t had their second date yet. A proper one. And Kara might not be ready to hear it, right? She might not be there yet. She might not be on the way there at all. There are so many variables to think about here, Lena tells herself. So she isn’t going to say it. Not yet at least. 

“Thank you,” Kara says when she pulls back. “You didn’t have to, Lena, but thank you.”

Lena smiles. “You’re welcome.”

Kara takes Lena by the hand as they amble towards the living room. 

“Hey! There was an unopened box here before Lena came in. Leon!”

The little boy laughs, “You took too long, Momma.”

At that, Kara suddenly drops Lena’s hand. She pouts at the other woman. “I’m blaming you for this.”

Lena chuckles. “You’re lucky you’re cute. I’ll buy you another box.”

“Three please,” Leon interrupts, “And maybe some fries?”

Lena doesn’t even bat an eye. She’s gotten used to how much Kara and Leon can eat. It still amazes her though, how both Danvers can stay so fit despite their ravenous appetite. She keeps in mind to ask Kara about her workout routine later. 

They stay in the living room all day, eating pizza and drinking orange juice until Kara tells Leon that it’s nap time. 

He puts up a fight for a few minutes before his eyes begin to drop. Kara laughs when she picks him up. 

“Momma? Can Lena tuck me in too?”

Lena’s ears perk up at that, not expecting Leon’s request. Kara turns to her with a questioning look. 

“Of course, darling,” Lena answers, immediately standing up from the couch and walking towards them. Kara smiles at her as she adjusts her hold on Leon, carries him with her left hand so that they can hold each other’s with her right.

It’s a simple request, but it’s a monumental one for Lena. She takes it as a milestone, because of course that’s what it is. Leon wants her there, and there’s nowhere in the world that Lena would rather be. 

She watches as Kara puts Leon down on the bed. The boy looks up at her expectantly. Automatically, Lena moves to his side, sweeps the curls of his hair away from his forehead and places a gentle kiss on his cheek. He looks so beautiful like this, all droopy blue eyes and grease stains on his face. Lena chuckles. 

“We should have washed him first,” Lena whispers to the blonde standing beside her. 

“He would have been back on full alert mode if we did that,” comes the chuckling response.

She smiles at the statement, feels her heart fill with tenderness at the information freely shared with her. She can picture it, Leon wide awake and running around instead of on the bed and falling asleep. He’s a mischievous one, armored with his brilliant eyes and disarming pout. Lena wouldn’t have stood a chance. She grins to herself at the imagery, and then watches quietly as Kara moves to sit on the bed. She puts a steady hand above Leon’s heart and starts humming a familiar tune. It’s the same melody that Lena’s heard her sing before. 

Silently, Lena wishes that she knew what the song was. No matter, she thinks. Kara will tell her soon. She knows it. 

They’re putting away the empty pizza boxes when Kara clears her throat. She’s been thinking about this for quite some time now. It’s still a little early, sure, but she doesn’t see any path but forward when it comes to her relationship with Lena. She doesn’t want any path other than that, to be honest. And if she wants to keep Lena in her life, then she might as well completely welcome her into the fold. 

“Hey, Lena?”

The woman turns at the mention of her name. “Hmm?”

“Um, I was wondering if, uh, if maybe you wanted to meet Alex one of these days.”

“Oh.”

There’s a stiffness in her back that Kara recognizes. The other woman is silent for a few minutes, the uncertainty written plainly across her face before her features smooth into a determined smile.

“I would love to meet her,” Lena says.

“Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to rush you into doing anything. And honestly, you looked a little faint just a few minutes ago.”

Lena flushes. “The thought of meeting your sister does make me nervous, Kara. But you’re important to me, and I think that it’s important that the people closest to you know that I care about you enough to meet them. My intentions towards you and your son are perfectly honorable, you know.”

“Shame,” Kara tsks as she takes a rag from the kitchen to clean the living room table. “I kind of wish you would dishonor me a little.”

It’s a joke. Mostly. Kara blushes. 

Lena blinks. “What?”

“What?”

“You just said…”

“...I know.”

It’s the least sexy time to be talking about this, but Kara just couldn’t help but insert it into the conversation. Entirely inappropriate though, because they’re talking about meeting her sister, but Lena has been nothing if not  _ honorable  _ towards her, and there are times when Kara can’t help but wish that Lena would just...disrespect her. 

“Kara. You’re turning red, dear,” Lena says, her voice dropping an octave lower, and Kara knows that Lena knows exactly where her mind is. 

Lena puts the glasses down on the sink and saunters saucily towards Kara. Her hips sway purposefully, and Kara knows that she’s staring. 

“You’re being a tease,” Kara pouts, dropping the rag.

“I know I am.”

Lena takes Kara’s hands and wraps it around her waist. She then slides her own arms around Kara’s neck. 

“You want me to what, exactly?”

Kara groans. She should have never said anything. She should have never brought this up. Rao. The way that Lena is looking at her is melting her insides. 

At Kara’s silence, Lena moves closer. Her mouth is inches away from Kara’s face now.

“What do you want me to do to you, Kara?” 

“Lena,” 

“You started it.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have though,” Kara sighs and Lena immediately understands what she means. Leon is in the other room, and they would never do anything that might scar the little boy. 

Still, Lena leans in and captures Kara’s lips. The kiss is soft and firm and breathtaking, and Rao, Kara wants more. 

“We’ll talk about it soon, okay? Preferably when Leon’s not in the other room,” Lena breathes out when they pull back. “But I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who’s been holding back.”

That makes Kara chuckle. 

“Are you kidding me? Every time I visit your office and see you in those tight-fitting pencil skirts, my mind just goes haywire.”

Lena raises a brow. “I’ll keep that information in mind,” she winks. “But seriously though, we should be getting back to the main conversation. Your sister?”

“Right, yes. What about next week? Do you have a free night?”


	12. Chapter 12

Lena fiddles with the hem of her flannel, contemplates for the nth time if she should have changed her outfit. If she should’ve worn something smarter. Meeting Alex Danvers is as important as a business conference after all. 

Glancing down at her expensive wristwatch, Lena sighs when she realizes that she’s been sitting in her car, parked outside of Kara’s apartment for almost ten minutes. She doesn’t have the time to turn back and change. 

No, Lena tells herself. It’s good that she’s wearing something casual. She doesn’t want to seem like a snob, or someone who doesn’t know how to be easygoing. And besides, it isn’t just Alex that she’s meeting for the first time tonight. It’s everyone else in Kara’s circle. James and Kelly Olsen, Winn Schott, and Nia Nal are all going to be there as well. It’s a get together with friends, not a meeting with her board members. It’s also an elaborate plan on Kara’s part to make sure that Lena doesn’t end up alone with her sister. 

“Should I not be alone with Alex?” Lena remembers asking. 

“Um, well, Alex can be a little scary, and I guess I just don’t want you running off because of her.”

Lena smiles at the memory, when Kara looked at her with such bright but serious eyes, genuinely terrified at the thought that her sister would scare her off. 

It frightened Lena a little, but she understands Alex’s protectiveness. She’s Kara’s older sister after all and it’s been them against the world for the longest time, which is why meeting her is a vital step in their relationship. 

Steeling herself, Lena thanks her driver and slides out of the car. 

She makes her way towards the building, takes one solid step at a time. She clutches her purse with her right hand and tightens her hold on the neck of a Macallan with the other. She tells herself that she doesn’t want it to slip and break, but she knows that deep down it’s to stop her hands from shaking. 

Arriving in front of Kara’s unit, Lena takes a steadying breath and knocks on the door. It swings open to reveal a little boy wearing a Stitch onesie. 

“Lena! You’re here!” 

Lena immediately drops down to his level to welcome him in her arms. She remembers the first time that he hugged her that day at the museum. How she flinched when his little arms wrapped around her legs. She smiles at the memory. They’ve come a long way from then. 

“Hello, darling. I missed you!”

“I missed you too! Oh look, you brought Auntie Alex a gift,” he says when he pulls back and sees the bottle of scotch in Lena’s hand. 

Lena instantly blushes at the mention of the liquor. Apparently it’s obvious that she’s trying to appeal to Alex’s good side. 

“Good choice on the drink,” Kara comments, appearing behind Leon. She takes Lena by the hand and leads her into the apartment, promptly closing the door behind them. “Ready to meet everyone?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Kara kisses Lena’s cheek, “You’ll be fine.”

And then they’re stepping further into Kara’s apartment, into the living room where Alex and their friends are waiting for them.

“Look everybody! It’s Lena,” Leon excitedly announces. 

“Hello.”

“Hey,” a black-haired girl waves at her from one of the couches. “I’m Nia.”

“I’m Winn,” says one of the guys sitting cross-legged in front of the television. There’s a paused game of Mario Kart onscreen, one of the controllers in his hand while the other is held by a tall-looking man with a friendly smile. “This one’s James.”

“Hi.”

“Hello,” Lena smiles. 

“That’s his sister Kelly,” Kara adds, gesturing to the person seated beside a familiar auburn-haired woman.

“And I’m Alex.”

Lena gulps. 

“And I’m Leon in case anyone forgot,” the little boy chimes in, effectively cutting through the growing tension looming over Lena. His cheerfulness makes everyone in the room chuckle, and Lena thanks every star in the universe that he’s there to make the night lighter. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet everyone,” Lena says, and then she’s extending the bottle of scotch towards Alex. “A little birdie told me that you liked gold-colored drinks. I guessed which kind.”

Alex laughs, a genuine little thing that has Lena’s shoulders sagging in relief. “Is the little birdie called Leon?”

“Maybe,” Lena answers, grinning when she sees the growing smile on Alex’s face. 

So far, so good. 

Kara glows when she sees the apprehension bleed away from Lena’s body. She looks more and more relaxed as the night continues. 

Nia has been amazing at making Lena feel comfortable, casually chatting away about inconsequential things while James and Winn focus more about her work. Kelly, too, has been adding to the conversation, subtly elbowing Alex to join in whenever she sees an opening. 

Her sister had loved the idea of meeting Lena, and she had promised Kara that she’d be on her best behavior. But, of course, that doesn’t mean that she won’t try to be intimidating. 

“I have a reputation to uphold,” Kara remembers Alex telling her. “And besides, Lena has to know the kind of pain I’ll be bringing if she hurts you.”

The memory warms Kara’s heart. Alex is protective and caring and loving to the point of sometimes being overbearing, but Kara doesn’t mind. She’s exactly the same with her, after all. 

They’re playing a round of UNO when Alex announces that it’s time to refill everyone’s drinks. She chances a glance at Lena, who Kara notices is already looking at her sister. They share a look before Lena nods, her face a picture of pure determination. 

“I’m going to go help Alex.”

“Oh, wait, you don’t have to,” Kara immediately says. 

Lena catches her hand, runs a reassuring thumb through her knuckles. “It’s fine,” she whispers, and then she’s standing up and walking towards the kitchen with Alex. 

Kara swallows the lump in her throat as she watches her sister and her girlfriend. 

“Do you want me to listen, Momma?” Kara hears a little voice whisper in her ear. She turns to see Leon’s innocent face inches away from hers. 

“No, darling. It’s okay. Close your ears, okay?” 

Leon nods his head and puts his hand on his ears, walking away from her and plopping down his Auntie Nia’s lap. 

Kara is about to turn her attention back to the kitchen when Kelly puts a hand on her shoulder. 

“I’m glad you found someone, Kara,” she says. “We all are.”

It’s when she’s saying that last line that Kara notices the tender looks from all of her friends, all warm smiles and blissful faces. 

“Yeah, Kar. I mean, you’ve always been a happy person, but your face lights up so much more with Lena around,” Winn adds. 

James nods his head. “The little guy seems completely smitten with her too.”

“And she’s the same with the both of you,” Nia says. “I mean, I’ve only met her now but I can see how comfortable she is with you. How much she adores both you and Leon. I think she’s a keeper, Kara.”

Kara looks at her friends, feels her heart swell with so much love and joy. She turns back to Lena, sees the exact moment that Alex puts a hand on her shoulder, a brief but fond smile on both of their faces. 

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Lena moves at a slow pace to match Alex. She knows what’s coming, knows the reason why Alex looked at her after volunteering to refill everyone’s drinks for them. It’s precisely the reason why she nodded her head and followed her. 

This is why she came. This is what she’s here for. It’s going to happen anyway, so Lena would much rather bite the bullet and just get on with it. 

“I’m giving you points for being brave enough to come along with me,” Alex smirks. “We both know that refilling everyone’s drinks was just an excuse.” 

“Yes, well, I’m serious about your sister and I want you to know that.”

“Straight to the point. I like that.”

A beat of silence passes over them and then Alex leans back on the kitchen counter, crosses her arms over her chest as she addresses Lena. 

“I’m happy that Kara has you. I can see that you care about her and Leon, and I can see how happy you make them. I don’t want to make this conversation longer than necessary, but… I want to let you know that Kara has been through so much. She lost her parents at a young age, and then she came to us only to lose another father figure. She has a cousin, the only other biological relative that she has, but they aren’t close. She lost her aunt and her uncle, and well, basically her whole world. 

She has us, sure. And she knows that we love her, and she has Leon, but she… She still lost a lot for someone who’s able to stay that beautiful-hearted. I guess what I’m trying to say, Lena, is that Kara needs someone permanent in her life. I know that you haven’t dated for that long, and that you’re having your own troubles now with the paparazzi and all that, but that’s what Kara needs. Someone who’ll stay. 

I hope you know that I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m telling you this because I want to know, right here, right now, if you are willing to be that person for Kara. If you’re willing to work it out with her if shit happens. If you’re not the kind of person who’s going to get tired of her and then bail out on her. Because if you think that you’re not ready for something permanent, then at least I’d know. I won’t hate you for being honest if that’s the case. I just want to know how long you can see yourself with Kara, because it isn’t just Kara that you’re going to be with here. It’s going to be her and that bright-eyed little boy.”

There’s a vulnerability in Alex’s eyes that her stance fails to hide. Lena can see right through her. The protectiveness, the trepidation, and the insurmountable amount of love that she has for her sister and her nephew. It’s beautiful, Lena thinks, all of that devotion for her family. 

“I love her, Alex,” Lena says, and she means it with everything that she has. It’s the only thing that she can think of to say, because honestly, there’s not another sentence that can encapsulate how she feels about Kara. About Leon.“She doesn’t know it yet. I haven’t told her because I’m not sure if she’s ready to hear it. Like you said, we haven’t been dating that long but… I do. I love her. And I love Leon. And yes, what we have might be new and we might still have a lot of things to work out on especially because of who I am, but this love that I have for her isn’t fleeting. It’s the strongest and brightest feeling that I’ve ever felt for anyone in my entire life. And Leon? I love him like my own. I don’t know if that’s enough for you, Alex, but I’ll be here and I’ll choose them every single day.”

The bottles of beer have warmed up on the counter behind Alex, its liquid droplets streaming down the marble. 

On the other side of the room, Kara and her friends are murmuring among themselves. 

Lena and Alex stay silent. 

And then Alex’s shoulders are dropping as she’s stepping forward towards Lena, putting a hand on top of her shoulder.

“Don’t hurt my sister,” she warns, but her eyes are full of welcoming warmth. 

“I won’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter until the reveal omg


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry this took too long and this chapter doesn't really make up for it, so sorry about that. there isn't a lot of angst yet, but i'm warning everyone ahead lmao

Eliza used to say that mothers have this instinct, a certain kind of intuition that lets them know that something is wrong with their child. 

The first time that Eliza told her this was when she was in middle school, when she suddenly lost control of her powers and accidentally threw the ball too hard in a game of dodgeball. It was one of the first few moments that truly traumatized Kara, seeing a classmate with blood rushing down from her nose knowing that it was her fault. Eliza hadn’t even been contacted yet when the whole thing happened, but the next thing Kara knew was seeing her foster mother running towards her as she sat outside the school clinic with Alex.

“Did the principal call you?” Kara remembers asking. 

“He did, but by then I was already on my way.”

“Huh?”

Kara recalls Eliza smiling gently at her, stooping down to her level to cradle her face. “I know that I’ll never replace your mother, Kara, but you’re my daughter now too, and I always know when there’s something wrong with my child.”

Back then Kara had thought that it was untrue, thought that there was no way that Eliza could have known if it weren’t for the principal calling her or Alex texting her that she had gotten in trouble. But years had passed and Eliza somehow always knew when to call. Always knew when Kara needed a mother’s guidance or a mother’s listening ear. 

And now Kara experiences it herself. She knows,  _ feels _ , exactly when Leon needs her. Times when Leon is sad, or misses her, or is sick because of his growing powers. Kara doesn’t have to listen to his heartbeat, doesn’t need to look at him or even see him to know. She just does. She just feels it. 

And that’s exactly what she’s feeling now, that kind of restlessness taking over her as she tries to focus on her article.

James, sensing that something is off with his friend, is quick to ask. 

“Kara, are you okay?”

“No,” Kara answers outright. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know yet, but I feel like Leon’s in trouble.”

James nods, immediately understanding Kara’s current demeanor. “Isn’t he in school?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I’m sure that everything is fine if he has his anklet on.”

Kara is about to respond when her cell phone starts ringing. One quick look at the name on the screen and her stomach begins filling with unimaginable dread. 

It’s Leon’s teacher. 

Kara immediately brings the device up to her ear. 

“Hello?”

“Ms. Danvers? It’s Ms. Maines, Leon’s teacher.”

“Yes, I have your number saved on my phone. Is something wrong?”

The seconds that pass in silence opens a pit in Kara’s stomach. Her hands begin to tremble, palms sweating as fear begins taking over her. 

“Leon got into an accident with another classmate.”

Kara gasps. “Is he okay?”

She wants to know how he is, but more than that she wants to know how the other child is doing. What if Leon lost control of his powers? What if another child got seriously injured because of him? Not only will she be liable for the child’s wellbeing, but she’ll also have to worry about Leon’s safety. What if something happened and Leon’s secret is revealed? 

A million thoughts barrage Kara’s mind, but what Leon’s teacher says next is something that she never once thought to worry about. 

“I’m sorry, Ms. Danvers, but you need to come as soon as possible. Leon is in the clinic. He has a cut on his shoulder that needs medical attention.”

Kara almost breaks the sound barrier in her haste, but she doesn’t care about that. Not right now, at least. Her first and foremost priority is Leon. 

She lands outside the school and quickly changes from her suit. Using a burst of superspeed, she swiftly finds her way to the school clinic. 

Kara doesn’t even acknowledge Leon’s teacher standing outside of the office, simply pushes past her and enters the clinic to find her son. 

She finds him sitting on top of a bed, the bandage on his shoulder stained a deep red. 

“Leon!”

“Momma!” 

She rushes towards his waiting arms and holds him in the tightest embrace that he could take. There’s a loud stuttered breath that comes out of Kara’s mouth, a heavy groan of relief that erupts from her body when she finally feels Leon’s weight in her arms. 

Kara is shaking and she knows it. 

“I got so worried, Leon. What happened?” Kara asks when she pulls back to cradle his face. 

“It was an accident, Momma. Ted didn’t mean it.”

As if on cue, Leon’s teacher appears beside them and explains the situation. 

“Ted is Leon’s classmate. He’s an alien.”

Kara’s heart begins thundering in her chest. “What happened?”

“We didn’t know.”

“What?”

“We didn’t know about him. He looks human, and he’s never showed any signs of having powers before.”

Kara suddenly feels faint. “So what happened?”

“I paired him and Leon for an activity when this huge sharp thing came out of Ted’s arms. He looked so horrified at what had come out of his skin that he began to panic and started flailing. Leon was the one closest to him.”

Kara looked at her son, at the bandage on his shoulder. The stain looks dry, and Kara is certain that the wound has closed up by now. 

“Don’t worry, Momma. I’m alright. I was just surprised. I’ve never bled before.” He whispers the last part, knows that it’s a secret between the two of them. 

Kara turns back to Miss Maines. “Where is Ted now?”

“He’s been expelled.”

“What?”

Miss Maines sighs, shakes her head dejectedly when she answers. “It wasn’t his fault. We all know that, but Principal Brooks thinks that it’s for the best. For the safety of the other students. Ted’s mother is in the office now, and Miss Brooks is trying her best to placate the other parents. They want to sue her for perjury.”

The void in Kara’s stomach widens. Blindly, she reaches for Leon’s leg, relieved to find the band around his ankle.

“I’m really sorry about what happened, Miss Danvers, but I stand by what I said. It was an accident. Ted is a good kid. It was his mother’s mistake for not informing us about them.”

“Would the school have accepted him if you knew that he was an alien?”

The answer is evident on Miss Maines’ face. “No. I suppose not. I’m sorry, Miss Danvers. I know that I sound insensitive. Your son had been injured during the whole thing and here I am advocating for alien rights.”

Kara shakes her head. “It’s alright, Miss Maines. If Leon says that it was an accident then I believe him. And Ted is just a child. Like you said, he was horrified when his powers had emerged. He didn’t know that it was going to happen, so he wasn’t able to control it.”

The teacher nods her head. “Exactly, but still, we would all understand if you would want a word with Ted’s mother. The other parents sure have a lot of things to say to her.”

Kara briefly thinks about it, thinks about what she would say to the woman. There’s an ache in her chest as she imagines how it would play out, the hypocrisy that would come out of her mouth at whatever she would try to say. 

She can’t be angry at what happened. Ted is a child who has no control over his powers. What happened was an accident. And she can’t take it out on Ted’s mother either. She did what she had to do for her child to have an education. For her and her son’s safety. Kara more than understands. After all, that’s exactly what she’s doing. 

Despondently, Kara shakes her head. “That’s alright, Miss Maines. I’ll find a way to contact her soon, but not now. She’s going through a lot, and I don’t want to add more guilt on her plate.”

“That’s very kind of you, Miss Danvers.”

Kara doesn’t respond. She doesn’t feel kind at all. 

Kara and Leon are in the hallway on their way out when Lena emerges from one of the offices. The woman’s eyes widen instantly when she sees both mother and son, rushing towards them when she sees the bandage on Leon’s shoulder. 

“Oh my god,” Lena gasps, stooping down to his height. “Leon, you were the one who got injured by the alien child?”

Kara stiffens at the words.  _ Alien child.  _

“I’m fine, Lena. It doesn’t really hurt anymore,” Leon says. “It was an accident.”

“I know it was, sweetheart. But it could have been avoided.”

Kara suddenly feels her heart drop. “What do you mean it could have been avoided?”

Lena stands up. “I mean that this wouldn’t have happened if Mrs. Childs had been forthcoming about them being aliens.”

“She just wanted a normal life for her son. An education,” Kara says a little defensively. She is shaking again, only realizing it when Leon takes hold of her hand to calm her down. 

“I know that, Kara. I understand her reasons for withholding that information, but it was still a dangerous thing to do. Your son got hurt. He’s bleeding!”

“I can see that,” Kara snaps. Lena takes a step back. 

Deciding to let Kara’s annoyance pass, Lena says, “It’s why I’m here actually.”

“What?”

“The President of the school board contacted me after the incident.”

“Why?”

“They’re interested in my alien detection device.”

It’s like the very ground that Kara is standing on is crumbling beneath her feet. An alien detection device. Her stomach begins swirling, and she feels like she can’t breathe all of a sudden. 

Lena, not noticing Kara’s discomfort, continues, “It isn’t fully functional yet, but I’ve been working on it for quite some time now. They want a prototype by next week.”

“For what?”

“To test their students and faculty, of course. Principal Brooks and the board want to make sure that the incident doesn’t happen again.”

Kara doesn’t respond, simply tightens her grip on Leon’s hand as Lena lowers herself in front of him again. 

“Nothing like this is going to happen to you ever again,” Lena tells the boy. “I promise.”

Leon looks up at his mother before glancing back at the woman in front of her. “Thank you Lena, but Momma and I have to leave now. I’m feeling tired.”

“Of course! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you,” Lena stands up and faces Kara. “Would you like me to give you a ride home?”

“No. That’s alright. Alex is picking us up, and we’re not heading home.”

“Oh? Where are you going?”

“To Alex’s clinic. I want Leon’s wound checked.”

Lena nods her head. “Of course. Well, I guess I’ll see you both soon. Let me know how his check-up goes.”

She steps forward to kiss Kara, but Kara turns her head and let’s Lena’s lips land on her cheek instead. She sees the hurt in Lena’s eyes when she pulls back, but she can’t think of that now. Not after the words  _ alien child  _ and  _ alien detection device  _ had left the other woman’s lips. 

“Kara?”

“We’ll see you soon, Lena,” is all that Kara says before she’s tugging Leon away, leaving a confused and wounded Lena in the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i previously say one more chapter until the reveal? lmao, um, i'll try but i've gotta squeeze a few things in so that it doesn't feel rushed. hope that's okay


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a minute lmao i'm so sorry guys. life's been demanding and yeah it took a lot from me this year. i'm only now bringing myself to get back to what i love doing. i've missed this little world that i've built and i miss being able to express myself through my writing so here i am, back at it again. thank you for your patience

Lena doesn’t know what happened. All she remembers is being in perfect terms with Kara, and then getting a call from the board of one of the schools in the city asking for an audience. She’d been busy that day, but the President of the board is an acquaintance and the incident sounded important. Not to mention that it was Leon’s school that needed her help. 

She doesn’t know what she did wrong, can’t remember if she said something that might have offended Kara in some way, but the next thing that she remembers is Kara leaving her in the hallway of the school, tugging Leon away with a coldness that she never thought Kara could exude. 

She didn’t think much about it then, simply concluded that it was Kara’s worry with what happened to Leon that made her seem off. But it’s been three days now. Three days of Kara’s distance and frigid demeanor. Three days of unemotional messages and conversations over the phone that Kara seemingly doesn’t want to be having. She’s been avoidant, and while Lena still wants to chalk it off as Kara’s protectiveness over the whole incident, it feels different somehow. Feels like Kara is drifting away from her and she doesn’t know why. 

Fortunately, Leon doesn’t share the behavior. He still excitedly talks to Lena, still has the same bounce in his tone that warms her heart. 

He’s been doing well, he says. His wound has been healing up nicely and he can move his shoulder better now. Or at least that’s what he’s told her. She doesn’t know for sure. She hasn’t visited them since the school incident. 

“I don’t know what to do, Sam,” she says over the phone. She and Sam have been talking more frequently now, and Lena is grateful for it. She needs a friend right now, someone she can talk to about her relationship woes. 

“Well why don’t you go ahead and ask her? Kara’s always been communicative about her feelings, right? Maybe she just needed a bit of space after what happened to Leon. Trust me. I know how it feels to be in full mama bear mode.”

“You really think so? ‘Cause it feels like she’s been pulling away from me.”

Lena can sense Sam shaking her head, “That’s normal, Lena. A child is a mother’s priority. It might seem unfair from your perspective, but put yourself in her shoes.”

Lena sighs. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I sound selfish, don’t I?”

“No, you don’t. You sound like someone who cares about her relationship, and that’s perfectly normal, Lena. Just be a bit more patient, and while you’re at it, maybe think about your last interaction. You might have said something that didn’t sit well with Kara, even if you had the best intentions.”

Lena nods, as if Sam can see the gesture. “Right, of course. Thank you, Sam. Genuinely. I don’t know what I would have done without your advice.”

Sam chuckles. “Knowing you, I’m pretty sure you’d be drunk right now and wallowing in self-pity.”

Lena rolls her eyes, but laughs all the same. She says her goodbye after promising to catch up again soon. 

Staring at the phone in her hand and then back at the documents on her table, Lena knows that she won’t be getting any work done. Not until she has a proper conversation with Kara. She looks down at her phone once more, thinks about whether or not Kara would pick up if she called. 

Finally deciding the best course of action, Lena stands from her chair and tells Eve to cancel her afternoon. It would be best to see Kara, to have the conversation in person. 

It’s not like Kara’s going to slam by the door in her face if she shows up at her doorstep, right?

Alex stares at her sister, at the tensed shoulders and eyes trained on Leon. She knows what’s going on in Kara’s head, knows that she’s thinking more about Leon’s secret identity than the healed injury on his shoulder. She’d been worried about that of course. Leon had never bled before, hadn’t even had a single scratch on him because of his Kryptonian DNA. But then again Leon had never been injured by another alien before. The anklet might not have dampened his powers completely, but it sure reduced them enough to get wounded by another non-human. It had eaten Kara up thinking that her boy had been exposed to such pain, but after an all clear from Alex and the DEO’s medical team, Kara’s distress had shifted and squarely focused on what might have happened if it was Leon who lost control of his powers. More than that, there’s also the issue of Lena’s alien detection device. There’s so much on Kara’s plate right now, everything involving her son that it’s driving her anxiety through the roof.

“Have you talked to her?” Alex asks and Kara is shaken from her daze.

“Hmm?”

“Lena. Have you spoken to her about the incident or have you just been avoiding her?”

Kara sighs. “I don’t know how to talk to her without telling her the truth, Alex.” 

“Do you want to tell her?” Alex isn’t surprised that she asks the question. She sees how much Lena cares about her sister, and it’s clear to anyone that Kara feels the same way. 

“I want to, Alex. I do. But I can’t tell her like this. Not now. Not when she’s planning to release an alien detection device. I don’t want to tell her because of that. I want to tell her because I trust her. Because I…” Kara stutters.

She doesn’t have to say it. Alex already knows. With a small sigh and a tender smile, Alex walks over to her sister and sits beside her on the couch. 

“Then talk to her, Kara. If you can’t tell her that yet, if you aren’t ready then talk about something else. It might be difficult, but that’s how relationships work right? Talking through things until you sort them out?”

Kara nods. She knows that Alex is right. If she wants to make things right with Lena then they have to talk to one another, no matter how difficult the conversation might be. They’ve done it once before. They can do it again. 

“Now come here. You’ve been moping for days,” Alex says, grabbing Kara by the shoulders and engulfing her in a big hug. Leon happily joins in when he sees them.

“I love our family,” the little boy whispers. 

“I love our family too.”

It’s when they’re pulling back that Alex notices Kara’s furrowed brows. She’s listening to something. “What is it?” Alex asks her, but it’s Leon who answers.

“It’s Lena! She’s outside the building!”

Both women’s heads turn to him, a questioning look on both of their faces.

Leon simply shrugs. “Her heartbeat is loud enough to hear.”

“You know her heartbeat?” Kara asks.

“Of course, Momma. It’s Lena.”

Lena’s eyes drop when the front door swings open, her legs instantly engulfed by a pair of small but very strong arms. 

“I missed you,” comes the muffled voice. It makes her heart clench, makes it sing and rise and float because god, she missed him so much too. 

“I missed you too, Leon,” she tells him, bending a little to put a kiss on his mop of blonde hair.

“Come on. Momma’s waiting for you,” Leon says, pulling back from Lena’s legs to reach and tug at her hand. 

“She is?” 

“I am,” comes Kara’s voice from her living room. She looks a little weary, but she’s still the most beautiful thing Lena’s ever laid eyes on. 

Beside her is Alex. The older Danvers greets her with a small wave before she’s calling Leon and telling him that Lena and his mother have to talk. 

It’s after Alex and Leon have gone out of the apartment that Kara’s shoulders finally drop. She walks over to Lena and holds her in the tightest embrace. Lena instantly melts at the touch, and she knows, she just knows, that everything is going to be okay. 

“I missed you so much,” Kara says. 

“I missed you too, Kara.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been myself lately. I know that I’ve been distant.”

Lena sighs, pulling Kara away a little to cradle her face. God, she missed those blue eyes so much. “Don’t apologize. You wouldn’t have acted that way if I didn’t do or say something that made you feel bad.”

“But I still should have talked to you about it instead of pulling away from you.”

“I’m here now, my love. We can talk about it now. Can you tell me what I did?”

Kara shakes her head, sighs. “It was something that you said.” 

They move to the couch, knees touching as they face one another.

“What was it?”

Lena watches as Kara bites her lip, as her shoulders tense and then sag. She doesn’t look at Lena in the eye when she whispers, “Alien child.”

Lena blinks. She remembers saying that, remembers the words passing through her lips like any other word. She didn’t mean for it to sound bad. She would never do that. That wasn’t her intention, but no matter what her intentions were she understands that the words were wrong. Sometimes people say things that unknowingly offend and hurt other people. 

She should’ve been more careful. She knows Kara, knows her work and her advocacy.

“I’m sorry, Kara. I should’ve been more careful with my words.”

Kara sighs. “I should’ve told you.”

“I guess it’s both our fault.” 

Lena laces their fingers together. All her life she’s been fitting herself into boxes for other people, changing and morphing herself in the hopes of earning someone’s affection, but when she looks up at Kara, she knows that that’s something that she doesn’t have to do now. She can be herself. She can be honest. “You scared me, you know? I didn’t know what I did wrong but I could feel you slipping away. I felt you putting up a barrier between us and it hurt me.”

Kara looks down at their joined hands, face crumpling in shame. “I know. I’m sorry.” 

They’re quiet for a moment until Lena asks, “Are we okay now?”

Kara looks up at her again. There’s a genuine fear in her eyes, a pure and intense kind of dread that shakes Lena. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” 

“Are you moving forward with the alien detection device?”

“No.”

Kara exhales, the tension visibly seeping away from her. And then Lena feels like she can breathe again. Like she and Kara both can. It’s like all of the windows in the room have been opened, the wind carrying the tension away from their shoulders and expelling it out of Kara’s apartment. 

Still, Kara thinks to ask. “Why?”

Lena shrugs. “It was a rash decision. The school board had several meetings about it in the past couple of days and finally decided that it would do more harm than good. Apparently, many of their employees came forward and admitted to being non-human, employees that have served the school well, teachers that are beloved by their students and fellow staff. It was an isolated incident and the fact that you defended Mrs. Childs really helped.”

“You amaze me you know,” Lena continues. “How you could set aside your concern for Leon and be able to come to Ted’s defense. You’re right. He’s just a child. It was an accident, and his mom thought she was doing the right thing by hiding who they are. I understand, you know. I do.”

“I know, and I know you were just trying to help with the alien detection device.”

Lena nods. “When I found out that the incident happened at Leon’s school, I got worried sick. And then I found out that it was him who got hurt. I didn’t know what else I could do, Kara. Leon… He’s important to me. I want to do everything I can to help him. To make sure he never gets hurt.” And then a surge of bravery rises from the pit of her stomach, engulfing her entire body and covering her with warmth. She’s scared, of course she is, but not because she’s afraid of how Kara will react. She’s scared because she’s never felt like this before, because she’s never said it to anyone and meant it like she means it now. “I love him, Kara. I —,”

“I’m Supergirl.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that escalated quickly didn't it


	15. Chapter 15

“I’m Supergirl.”

It wasn’t supposed to come out like that. It wasn’t meant to be blurted out in the middle of a conversation. Sure Kara didn’t really know how she was going to say it, but she’s certain that this isn’t how she imagined it would go. In her head, she’d say it after dinner when she and Lena are on the couch, sated and relaxed. It would’ve been terrifying but at least she’d have a clear head when she’d say it. Not that her head isn’t clear now. In fact, it’s clearer than it’s ever been for the past few days, thoughts comprehensible now that she and Lena have eased each other’s minds about the incident. So clear that she knew exactly what Lena was going to say before she’s even said it. 

Lena was going to tell her that she loves her. 

“What?” is the first thing that Lena says. She doesn’t pull away from Kara, for which Kara’s grateful for. Their hands are still intertwined, grip a bit looser than it had been seconds ago but still thankfully laced together. Kara looks at Lena’s face, fishing for her honest reaction. All she sees is shock and a heavy dose of confusion. 

Kara clears her throat and tries again. This time slower, more a gentle confession than a surprise revelation. 

“I’m Supergirl.”

Lena’s eyebrows furrow, letting the words sink in. And then, “You have powers? You’re an -,”

Kara doesn’t flinch, “An alien, yes.”

Lena is silent for a long time after that, no doubt letting the words fully register. Kara understands this. It’s a lot to take in, but that doesn’t mean that her anxiety doesn’t bubble up and make her heart go haywire in her chest. 

Maybe she was wrong to blurt it out like that. Maybe she should’ve waited for Lena to say what she was going to say. No, Kara couldn’t do that. As much as she wanted to hear Lena say it, she just couldn’t. Not when she hasn’t been completely honest with her yet. 

That’s the reason why she said it, the reason why she confessed so untimely. Because Lena was going to tell her that she loves her, and Kara cannot, in good conscience, let Lena do that when Lena doesn’t know who she truly is yet. What she and her son are. She wants Lena to know all of her before she has the chance to say it, because loving Kara means loving all of her. Not just Kara Danvers but Kara Zor-El as well. Her past and her heritage, and more importantly, her son, Yon-El. 

She knows that it’s a risk, knows that Lena might not be able to take it. Might decide that loving someone like her, an alien superhero, might be too much. So yes, Kara needs to hear it now if that’s the case. She needs to know if she has to detach herself before she has the chance to go all in. After all, this isn’t just for her. This is for Leon, too. God, Kara would never forgive herself if Leon loses Lena because of her, not when the boy is as in love with her as Kara is. But this is for him, Kara reminds herself. She can’t stay with someone who can’t wholly love her son even if their hearts are going to break if this ends badly.

“Oh my god,” Lena suddenly gasps, “So Leon —,”

“Yes.”

And then Lena does something that surprises Kara more than her confession had surprised Lena. She pulls Kara in, holds her tight and _apologizes._

“I’m so sorry, Kara. I’m so sorry. I know I didn’t know but god, if I’d known — god, I’m sorry.”

Lena is holding her tightly, clutching at her shoulders as if trying to physically transfer her apology. What is going on? 

Kara gently pulls away. “Why are you apologizing?”

A sniffle, “Because I’ve been endangering him all this time. With the paparazzi and then the alien detection device. And I said ‘alien child’ in front of you! In front of him! I know you know that I didn’t mean anything offensive by it but still. I’m so sorry, Kara. I never wanted to hurt you or Leon. I would never want to put him at risk. Please know that.”

There’s so much sincerity in those words, an infinite amount of honesty and love in Lena’s eyes that Kara can’t help but pull Lena’s face in and connect their lips together, because what else could she do other than that? Other than show Lena how much that reaction means to her. 

It’s like every muscle in her body had been coiled before that, and now they’ve loosened themselves, and she can finally let her body relax because the worst has passed. All of her cards are on the table, and Lena doesn't seem to be fazed. 

“You’re not angry that I kept this from you?”

“Why would I be angry?”

“Because I kept this a secret from you.”

Lena shakes her head. “You had to. You’re Supergirl. You have enemies that want to hurt you, Kara. I know that you trust me but this, giving away your identity, it’s more than that. It’s so much bigger than our relationship. You have a son! ”

Tears well up in Kara’s eyes as Lena continues.

“Leon is your priority. I get it. In fact if I were you I don’t think I’d say it to me. Why did you say it? Why did you tell me?”

Kara’s hand reaches up to cup Lena’s face, thumb stroking her cheek. “Because you were going to tell me you love me. I wanted you to know who exactly you’re loving.”

Lena’s eyes shimmer as she leans in to Kara’s touch. 

“Nothing’s changed. I love you, Kara. All of you. Thank you for telling me.”

“I love you too, Lena.”

_“I’m Supergirl.”_

Lena knows what that means now. Sitting on Kara’s couch as she watches Kara move around the kitchen to make tea for the both of them, Lena finally understands the meaning behind those words. 

It wasn’t just a confession. It wasn’t just Kara unveiling herself because she wanted Lena to know who it is that she loves. It was Kara fully giving herself to Lena, her trust and her heart. It was a declaration of love. 

“I love you,” Lena whispers. 

“I heard that.”

“I know you did.”

Kara puts the kettle on the stovetop and turns to face Lena. “I love you too.” She turns to face the front door. “Leon and Alex are on their way up.”

Sure enough, the door opens slightly to reveal Alex’ and Leon’s head poking in. 

“Are you okay now?” Leon asks, his eyes finding his mom’s. 

“Yes, love, Lena and I are okay.”

The door opens wider and Leon strides in blowing an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Oh thank Rao! I asked auntie Alex to buy ice cream just in case. Now we can all share!”

“You asked — what? Leon, did you think me and Lena weren’t going to make up? Did you buy that ice cream for me?” Kara splutters.

“No momma, I bought it for me.”

The admission is small and quiet but it tugs at Lena’s heartstrings and makes her stand up from the couch and walk over to him. She bends down to his level and holds him in the tightest embrace, burying her nose on his shoulder. Tiny hands engulf her neck almost immediately and in that moment, Lena feels the most safe she’s ever been. In the arms of a child who had just admitted how terrible it would be for him to lose her. 

Lena breathes in and commits his smell to memory. Vanilla and laundry detergent with a hint of… dough and powdered sugar?

Lena gently pulls away. “Did you have doughnuts when you were gone?”

Leon smiles sheepishly. “I was worried okay? I thought you and momma weren’t gonna make up. I eat when I’m, um.. What’s the word again, auntie Alex?”

“Stressed.”

“Yeah that.”

Lena chuckles. 

“Well there’s nothing to be stressed about. Your momma and I are okay.”

“You promise?”

Lena’s eyes find Kara’s and in that moment she knows that whatever happens, they have each other. 

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new year everyone!


End file.
